The Instruments of Time
by adrogoz
Summary: Time has been damaged, and heroes and villains clash to gain control of the artifacts needed to repair it. Featuring many, many characters from many, many series, as chosen by readers. Warning: time shenanigans ahoy
1. The Warriors of Darkness

Welcome, one and all, to the first true chapter of The Intruments of  
>Time! I don't own any of the characters from this chapter. The characters in this chapter were chosen by Mata Nui. I have also received a team from PEJP Bengtzone V2 and another from Italian Schizoid Boy, but they won't appear until the next chapter.<p>

Time had been damaged.  
>No-one knew what caused it, or when or where what caused it happened, only that time no longer flowed properly.<br>Every being in the universe, maybe even in a wider multiverse, had had their individual timeline seperated from everyone else's and flung into a maelstrom of times and places. Meeting people who were dead or not yet born in their time and finding themselves in places and times long gone or yet to come.

A man looked out over a deserted city that looked as if it had been over a century since anyone had lived there. He wore a long black cape and a helmet that covered over his face.  
>He became aware of someone behind him, and turned to see a man with long silver hair in a black coat and metal pauldrons. The sheath for a sword was at his waist; a long, thin katana about seven feet long.<br>But the most unusual thing about this man was that he appeared to have a single black feathered wing on his back.  
>The helmetted man took a small cylindrical object from his belt and a glowing red blade emerged from it.<br>"That's an interesting sword you're carrying", said the one-winged man.  
>"It is no concern of yours", he said in a deep, somewhat mechanical voice. "Unless you stand in my way".<br>The winged man drew his sword in an instant and moved towards him at blinding speeds, but the man in black raised a hand and his opponent was flung back by an invisible force. But before he hit the building behind him, he disappeared.  
>The man in black raised his glowing red sword just in time to block a slashing attack from the winged man, who was now right beside him.<p>

"Who are you? Name yourself!" demanded the helmetted man.  
>"Sephiroth", said the one-winged angel. "And you?"<br>"You may address me as Lord Vader".  
>"I don't bow to anyone", said Sephiroth, slashing the ground and cutting a clean line through the building, causing the corner of the building, along with Vader, to fall to the street below.<p>

Vader leapt off the falling piece of skyscraper to land on the building opposite Sephiroth, before concentrating on the rubble from the destroyed corner and levitating it into the air, effectively throwing it at Sephiroth. Sephiroth slashed through the rubble with ease before flying towards Vader once more. When he came close, he began slashing at Vader, attacking so fast, so many times that it would have been impossible for a normal human to block all of them. Vader was no ordinary human, but even he had trouble blocking all the slashing blows.  
>In the end he was just a nanosecond too slow to block one of the attacks and his hand was severed. Sparking wires were visible at the stump were his hand was once connected, while his hand and the glowing red sword it carried fell down to the deserted streets below.<br>"I admit, you're very skilled for a machine", said Sephiroth. "But..."  
>He didn't get to finish his sentence, as Vader raised his remaining hand and suddenly Sephiroth was lifted into the air by the neck, as if an invisible hand were choking him.<br>"I am no mere machine", said Vader. "You underestimate my power".  
>Then Sephiroth vanished again.<br>He appeared behind Vader, and without his weapon, Vader had no chance of blocking an attack, so Vader leapt back just moments before another strike hit him.  
>Down below, Vader caught sight of another pair of warriors fighting; a pale-skinned man with red markings and some kind of chain blades was fighting a man wearing little armour except for a helmet carrying a large hammer. He could tell that both of them were incredibly strong, as the shockwaves created when their weapons clashed created great cracks that spread across the road.<br>He leapt down to a lower building, and then down to the ground. The two fighters looked towards him as he raised his hand and his weapon flew into his hand just in time to block another attack from Sephiroth.

Then a fifth being faded into view, and the four warriors were suddenly unable to move.

The creature before them was at least ten feet high, and covered in black and dark metal coloured armour. It carried a two-bladed staff.  
>"Warriors of darkness", it said. "Why do you fight against one another when together, we could rule all of time?"<br>"What makes you think I'd need your help?" said Sephiroth, as the immobility was released from them. "I admit, you must be skilled if you could hold me and these three for even the time you did, but..."  
>"Only with the power of five gods can the Instruments of Time be wielded to their full extent", said the dark being. "I believe the four of you may be strong enough to wield these powers".<br>"Then I'll travel with you to gather the Instruments", said Sephiroth.  
>"But make no mistake, once we have them, I'll destroy you, and they will be mine".<br>"Your terms are reasonable, if you think for a moment that you could defeat me", said the dark behemoth.  
>"I'll accept under the same terms", said the helmetted warrior.<br>Vader considered for a moment. "Could one use these instruments to return the dead to life?" he asked.  
>"With these artifacts under their control, one could change the past and prevent them from dying in the first place", said the dark creature.<br>"Then I accept", said Vader.  
>"I shall also accept", said the pale man. "If you but tell me your name".<br>"Very well", said the dark being. "My name is Teridax".

Any more entries? We have our villians, but are any more coming? And what of the heroes?  
>Stay tuned for the next chapter of The Instruments of Time!<p> 


	2. The First Hero Team

"So, gentlemen", said one of the four figures who had gathered in the  
>room. "What do you say?"<p>

Two of the figures had met before in the past. Well, "met" probably wasn't the right word. They had fought each other, trashing a bar and firing an incalculable number of bullets at each other, somehow both coming out unscathed. But it was fair enough to say they knew each other. Working together wouldn't be all that new either.

Working together alongside a talking panda, though, that was new.

The silver-haired man in the red trench coat was the first to reply.  
>"Why not?" he said. "Seems you could use some help. And you even brought pizza".<br>"What he said", said the other figure, a man in a red outfit complete with a red mask with black circles around the eyeholes. "Although I would add that the money you're offering IS a deciding factor".  
>"Awesome", said the panda enthusiastically. "'Cause if those things I've heard about you are true..."<br>"Believe me", said the masked man. "The stories don't make me sound NEARLY as awesome as I actually am"

Three figures looked out over a vast, smoke-belching factory at the dead of night. People were walking into the factory in mass numbers, forced along by a number of metal-armoured humanoid beings.  
>"Cybermen", said one of the three, a black-haired man in a green jacket, watching the metal beings through binoculars. "And lots of them"<br>"What are Cybermen?" asked another, an anthropomorphic tigress in Chinese-style clothes.  
>She never got an answer, as an explosion echoed throughout the area.<br>"That'll be Po", said the tigress. "Come on!"  
>As the three figures left the area, none of them saw the falcon watching them from the skies.<p>

When they got there, they found a silver-haired man in a red trench coat destroying dozens of Cybermen with a huge red sword, a masked man in red and black teleporting around, destroying the Cybermen by attacking through the gaps in their armour with a pair of katanas, and a giant panda fending off any Cybermen who came close with an improvised form of Kung Fu.  
>"Tigress!" called the panda, waving to her, not noticing the Cyberman reaching for him from behind.<br>"Po, behind you!" Tigress shouted, but the man with the red sword cut the Cyberman in two before it could get to Po.  
>With Tigress' help, they soon destroyed all the Cybermen outside the factory, allowing the captive humans to go free.<br>"So who are these guys?" asked Tigress.  
>"These are some guys who said they'd help us find the others", said Po. "Their names are Dante and Deadpool. Guys, this is Tigress, she's a friend of mine".<br>"So are we going to go in, or are we just going to introduce each other some more?" asked Dante.  
>"Lupin and Jigen are already in there", said Tigress. "They snuck in while we distracted the Cybermen".<br>"Dude, you hired ME for a DISTRACTION?" said Deadpool, clearly irritated at the idea.  
>"Yeah, kind of", admitted Po. "Come on, let's go help them out"<p>

"ALERT! FOUR INTRUDERS HAVE ENTERED THE FACTORY!" said a Cyberman. "UNAUTHORISED DATA RETRIEVAL DETECTED!"  
>"THEY ARE ALL INCOMPATABLE! THEY WILL BE DELETED!" said another. This one looked to be their leader, distinguishable from the others by a visible brain behind a glass section on its head, and also by the fact it was wired into a large metal chair. Its eyes also glowed unlike the other Cybermen.<br>"ACTIVATE CONTROLLED UNIT 721"

It wasn't long (but long enough for Tigress to realise how annoying Deadpool could be) before they found their teammates, Lupin and Jigen,  
>running from something.<br>"Cybermen?" asked Tigress.  
>"No", said Jigen. "Much worse..."<br>Suddenly, there was a mighty crash from in front of them, and through the ceiling crashed a...  
>To be honest, none of them quite knew what it was. The top-half of its body was spherical and silver with a black stripe running down where its "face" was. Its face consisted of seven red dots (which they assumed were its eyes) in a hexagon formation. It had long black arms with three sharp clawed fingers each and short cylindrical legs.<br>It slashed out at Deadpool, but the loudmouthed assassin was easily able to dodge out of the way of it. In retaliation, Deadpool shot it in the face, but the bullets seemed to ricochet off the bizarre metal monster.  
>"Well that figures. Why is EVERYTHING in here immune to bullets?" said Deadpool.<br>Dante swung his sword Rebellion at the creature, but it simply grabbed the blade in one hand before hurling him against a wall.  
>"What is this thing?" asked Po.<br>It was then that Po spotted a strange metal device on its back. The device was a different tone of metal than the rest of its body, and had the Cybermen's logo on it.  
>"Hey guys, there's something on its back!" announced Po.<br>"Got it", said Tigress, running towards the creature.  
>Power seemed to flow into the metal thing until it fired an enormous red beam from its eyes. Po just managed to leap out and pull Tigress out of the way in time, as the beam went on and created a huge tunnel through the factory.<br>"Bam!" yelled Deadpool, appearing behind the being. It had no time to react before he stabbed a sword throught the device.  
>The metal creature looked around, as if it didn't know where it was or how it got there.<br>"What happened to it?" asked Po.  
>"I think we broke the Cybermen's control over it", said Lupin.<br>As another battalion of Cybermen approached, firing some kind of arm-mounted energy weapons, the seven-eyed metal being blocked their path, the energy attacks doing about as much damage to its seemingly inpenetrable metal body as Deadpool's bullets.  
>"Come on, let's get out of here!" said Jigen.<br>"Thank you", said Po to the metallic creature, before he and the others quickly evacuated the building.

The six of them soon arrived back at the hotel where Po had hired Dante and Deadpool. Po, Tigress, Dante, Lupin and Jigen were gathered round the table, Po and Dante enjoying a pizza, while Deadpool flicked between channels on the TV.  
>"So what did you get?" asked Dante.<br>By way of a reply, Lupin held up a simple pen drive.  
>"Information", said Lupin. "The location of the Orb of Continua, one<br>of the five Instruments of Time".

_**Today's team is brought to you courtesy of Italian Schizoid Boy. Review if you have a tam you'd like to submit or if you just want to say what you like/hate/think could be improved about this story. Thanks!**_


	3. The Renegades

The falcon flew to an old abandoned warehouse, far away from the fight with the Cybermen. He looked around, his sharp eyes able to take in anything for miles around, before flying inside.

"Ah,Tobias. You're back early", said a voice from the shadows. A pure white peacock in fine regal clothing stepped forward into the light. "Did you get the information we needed?"

"Another group beat me to it", said the falcon.

"Can you show me?"

Tobias was an animorph. He could transform into anything that he touched, and he managed to nick a few of them. He couldn't even get close to Deadpool or Lupin, but he transformed into each of the others in turn. He transformed behind a crate, even though he knew he shouldn't be embaressed; being a falcon, he spent most of his life naked, and Shen would probably understand. But he still only showed him their faces. The peacock's expression turned into one of bitterness when Po and Tigresses forms were used.

"Old friends, Shen?" asked Tobias.

The peacock had no time to reply. The warehouse door opened, and three more figures appeared in the warehouse. Only one of them appeared to be human, but looks could be deceiving. Next to him, was a humanoid creature with indigo fur and a tail, along with what appeared to be a small Pegasus-like winged horse of some kind with a rainbow-coloured mane.

"Bigby, Kurt, Rainbow Dash, you're back", said Tobias. He transformed back into his much more comfortable falcon form.

"We have a problem", the man in front growled like a wolf. "There's another group looking for the Instruments. Their intentions seem far from benign. And I think they already know where one of the Instruments is".

That was all he got to say before one of the walls shattered and four bizarre creatures walked in. They had skull-like heads and their backs were covered in spikes. Each of them carried a staff with a deadly blade on either end. It was hard to tell if they were living or robotic. Each of the four was a different colour, with differences in their back spikes and staffs as well.

"What the heck are those things?" asked Tobias, as he took wing.

"They followed us?" said the Pegasus. "Bigby, I thought you said it was impossible for –"

One of the creatures, this one gold in colour, stabbed its staff into the ground as the others leapt into the building. The clouds above the building began to turn dark and angry.

"Kurt!" shouted Tobias, throwing a fencing sword to the fur-covered mutant.

Kurt caught it with his tail just in time to use it to block an attack by another of the creatures, this one black with orange limbs. Staff against sword, they fought against one another, the creature compensating for its lack of Kurt's level of skill with brute strength, until a cloud of insects descended on Kurt and he lost concentration for just a moment. That moment was all the time the creature needed to knock the sword from its enemy's hand and stab him through the chest.

Or it would have been, had the Pegasus not collided with it at high speed and sent it rolling across the ground.

"Danke", he nodded to his fellow blue-skinned friend, before teleporting back into the fray.

Shen, meanwhile, was having problems of his own. No matter how many knives he threw at his target, a silver creature with red limbs, it was somehow able to dodge every single one.

Deciding to forgo his usual cautious approach, Shen prepared his short spear, and prepared to meet metal with metal. But just as the golden creature swung its staff, and a great blast of wind howled through the warehouse.

Shen shot an irritated glance at Bigby, before wiping some dust off his robes. He went to find another abomination.

"Bigby, I think that gold one can control the weather." Rainbow Dash said. She and Bigby sheltered behind some crates.

"I'll fight that one then, you worry about the bug controller." he said.

"No fair, I wanted that one." Mumbled the Pegasus, but she flew towards the black and orange beast.

Kurt, had picked himself up, and was having trouble with a brown creature whose staff seemed to shatter anything it touched. He couldn't get close to it for fear of it shattering him in the same way. Then he noticed Shen and his opponent. the peacock was skilled, but he was tiring, and he was obviously unaware of what appared to be a weak point on the creature's back.

"Would you like to switch dance partners?" He asked to the peacock as he dodged another strike of the brown creature's staff.

"Yes, immediately." Said Shen, as the creature he was fighting sliced a single feather off.

Kurt teleported between Shen and the red and silver creature and blocked its staff with his sword. The peacock took this chance to attack the brown creature over a long range with his knives. While the brown creature was able to make use of its explosive powers to make hitting it difficult, there were too many for it to deflect, and several knives jammed into its back and legs, and it fell to the ground.

If anything, Kurt's fight against the red and silver creature was even shorter. He simply teleported behind it and, before it even knew where he was, he stabbed his sword through its head.

"May God have mercy on your soul, assuming you have one." Said Kurt.

He and Shen looked across to where Bigby and Rainbow Dash had seemingly finished off the other two creatures.

"If they know where we are, we'll have to relocate", said the wolfman, lighting a cigarette. "We don't want any more of those things dropping in on us"

"And where would you suggest we go?" asked Shen, in a tone that made perfectly clear his displeasure at Bigby's position of leadership. "Another dingy old factory, filled with crates of fruit?"

"We'll have to find Trafalgar first. We'll need our doctor back." Bigby said, ignoring Shen's tone. They'd already done this dance. "Then we'll set up a new HQ somewhere else".

Shen sniffed in disdain. "Very well. Tobias, go and find Mr. Law, while we discuss our next move." Tobias, of all the group, was the one that Shen felt most comfortable commanding. They were both birds after all. And besides… he didn't want Tobias to stick around long enough for Bigby to ask him about the group he saw… the one with Tigress and Po.

"We're going to need him with us where we're going." Bigby said. "And we'd be better moving in a pack. Oh, and Tobias... try to fly a little lower to the gound."

Shortly after they left, the back of one of the defeated creatures opened up and a creature somewhere between a snake and a slug slithered out of it.

Teridax's spies were on the move.

**I have a Beta Reader now! This chapter was beta'd by StrangePointOfView. This team was also his idea.**


	4. Preparation and planning

In the ruins of the Cyber Factory, a lone Cyberman managed to raise its damaged head to assess the damage to its current location. Most of the damage had been caused when Controlled Unit 721, better known as Registeel, had broken free of Cyberman control. The entire west side of the factory had been destroyed.

As its optical sensors scanned the area, it saw that Unit 721 had broken out of the area and was nowhere to be seen, but scanners detected five other life forms now stood amongst the wreckage of many Cyber units.

Three of them appeared to be human males. One wore green clothes including a hat with a red feather in it, whilst another wore white and green armor with a dome-shaped glass helmet. The last wore clothes resembling a sheriff or cowboy. Two were human-sized fur-covered creatures with large ears. One had blue fur, four arms and antennae, while the other had black fur and wore red robes and a blue hat, and looked like a giant anthropomorphic mouse.

There was also a sixth presence. It seemed to be moving of its own free will, no powersource detected, however there was no life detected either. And this Cyberman knew enough about humans to know what one of their skeletons looked like.

As they came closer, his programming kicked in. They must be deleted. It struggled to reach out a hand to try to grab the leg of one of the man in green.

"D...De...le", it began, but the man in the white and green armour spotted the Cyberman before it could grab hold and shot it in the head with a wrist-mounted laser, destroying it entirely.

"You should be more careful ensign Pan." Said the spaceman. "One of those things nearly got you. The signal's gone now, so it looks like that was the last one".

He turned to the blue-furred creature, who seemed to have noticedsomething. "626, have you noticed something?"

"These Cybermen look like they were destroyed by Registeel's claws or his Charge Beam." Said the blue furred alien, in a light Scottish accent. "But the ones outside look like something else destroyed them. Also, I found a left shoe." The alien gleefully picked a shoe out of the wreckage, no doubt belonging to one of the Cybermen before they were transformed, and he ate it greedily.

"Something else? What do you mean?" Asked the sheriff.

"Some of the ones outside look like they were cut up by one of those Japanese samurai thin sword things." Said Stitch. His memory wasn't what it used to be, but his mind automatically analyzed what could have made the cuts.

"You mean a katana?" The Sheriff asked. "But there's nobody else around here. Are you sure it wasn't just Registeel's claws?"

"There's no way Registeel could have done that, his talons are way too big." Stitch slurped up the last shoelace like a strand of spaghetti.

"Remind me again how we know Registeel was here at all?" Asked Peter. He didn't really care. He just wanted to find the guy who invaded Neverland.

"I checked the Cybermen's database." Said Stitch. He opened his mouth wide, and a laptop with the Cyberman logo poured out, riding on two tongues. "There was also something else... unusual".

"What?" Most of the group asked at once.

"How much do you know about the Instruments of Time?" Asked Stitch, with a wide toothy grin.

"Instruments of time?" said Tigress.

"There are many stories of the Instruments of Time", said Lupin. "They vary so much it's difficult to tell what they do, what they look like or even how many there are in total. There's one thing they all agreed on though; if all of them are brought together, they would grant the user mastery over time, with the ability to pretty much rewrite the universe as they wish. They could repair the broken timestream and return the world to what it once was, or rule over it like a god".

"Awesome!" Po cheered.

"Sounds like fairytales to me", said Tigress.

"Believe what you want." Shrugged Lupin. "But the Cybermen had a map to one of them." He pulled a small GPS from inside his jacket. "HAD being the operative word. And if the stories are true, the Orb of Continua could bring those missing friends of yours to you in an instant."

"Where is it?" Asked Po.

"Fragment 27 in London, 2 days from now", said Lupin.

"Fragment 27?" asked Peter. "What does that mean?"

"You probably already know how there are cracks in the world that, if crossed over, will send you to another time, right?" Asked Stitch. It was already elementary of course. He'd already explained it to them. "Well, the areas between these cracks are called Fragments. Looks like the Cybermen numbered them all. It's really quite impressive. Question is, why two days from now?"

"Where and when a crack leads to varies over time." explained the mouse-like creature in the robes and hat. "They usually tend to stay put for weeks though."

"Shut your magic-hole Mickey, I'm explaining this." Stitch mumbled. "Well, as much as I love to disagree with Mr. all-powerful-sorcerer over there, he's right. It'll stay open for about a week."

"That's our window." The Sheriff said. "And the earlier we get there, the better. We don't know if any Cybermen are still alive, and already looking for it."

"How are we supposed to get there, though?" Buzz Lightyear asked. "London is surrounded by cracks, if we go there we'll only end up arriving in the middle ages or World War II."

"Already taken care of", said Lupin. "The Cybermen planned it all out for us. They worked out a route that should lead us there in time".

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Dante. "And why can't Deadpool just teleport there?"

"Teleportation between fragments doesn't work." said Lupin. "Don't ask me why, I'm a thief not a physicist, things that teleport through end up aging rapidly."

"Like me." Peter Pan grumbled, his red hair slowly growing a silver tint.

"Not to put too fine a point on it, but precisely." Stitch said. "The further you teleport, the more this happens. If you use a metal teleportation device, it's even worse, because the device tends to rust away and dump the user in a random place and time. Using it over short distances is fine, but any longer distance teleportation is risky."

"And here was me going to teleport to the shops to get some CheesyPuffs", said Deadpool. "How do you know so much about the time cracks?"

"Me and Jigen travel around a lot", said Lupin. "We've crossed a fair few Time Cracks along the way".

Little did either group know of a third group already arriving in London as they spoke.

"How much time do we have left?" asked the man at the front of the mobile lab. He had blond hair and wore a long black coat and black sunglasses

"Two days", said a young man with untidy white hair, before  
>spontaneously turning into a skeleton with living eyes for a split-second.<p>

"Perfect", said the man in the sunglasses. "Enough time to make preparations".

"Preparations for what?" asked a creature which resembled a large purple bear.

"Our guests", said the man in sunglasses. "You don't believe we're the only ones who know when and where the Orb is, do you?"

Their other colleagues, who were a hideously scarred man with blades on his fingers, a man dressed as a clown with a white face and bright red hair, and a red creature which was mostly humanoid, but with huge claws and a monstrous head, said nothing for the time being.

_**Today's new teams were brought to you by Shneider-man. Apart from the new team introductions, not a lot happened in this chapter, I know, but I think it covers some of the irregularities to be expected in Brokentime.**___

___**By popular demand, I'm allowing everyone the option of adding a second team of the opposite alignment to their initial one. So those who have already given me heroic teams can now give me villainous ones, and vice-versa.**___

___**Next time, we'll be meeting the last of the initial teams (not that I'm not accepting any more, it's just that we won't see them until after the first big confrontation). And then after that, things really kick off...**_


	5. Leaders and followers

"Welcome everyone." Said a small white dog wearing round glasses as he sat down at the head of the table. "And thank you all for coming to the first annual meeting of Evil Inc."

"That's not the name we agreed on!"

"Names are unimportant. It's the people behind them."

The seven assorted beings gathered in the back room of the nightclub were all seated around a large oval-shaped table. A man in a blue coat and helmet with a faceless silver mask sat to the left of the dog with glasses, while on his right was a clown with a flaming head. There was also a green creature wearing spiked armor, a young man with blond hair wearing a suit and tie, a man wearing a black leather full-body outfit, red eyepieces and a white mask that covered his lower face, and, opposite the bespectacled dog, an old man with a long grey bread wearing white robes.

"Saruman has been assessing all the possible threats to our plans using the Palantir and his crows. I'll let you take it from here".

"I have looked across the fields of time." Saruman said, standing majestically. "I have seen through the unseeable, Our plans will progress, and we will be victorious; that much is certain. Fellowships gather, unlikely friendships form, and heroes and champions will take up arms against us, but we will strike them down!"

Dogbert coughed. "Saruman. Let's pretend that we're not unstoppable, and assume that the obstacles in our way are actually obstacles."

Cobra Commander hissed. "Obstacles? Bah. We'll crush any obstacles in our way!"

The man in black and the clown chuckled. Wesley Gibson and Sweet Tooth were both mercenaries in this outfit, but they knew a thing or two about a thing or two. Wesley in particular knew that this whole arrangement wasn't going to last.

Too many cooks ruin a soup, or whatever that corny saying was. Saruman was a natural leader. And so was Dogbert. And so was Cobra Commander, as ineffectual as he was. Johan Liebert… well, he wouldn't be commanding an army any time soon, but he didn't take flak from anybody. Baron Dante too. In a world with leaders and followers, Wesley and Sweet Tooth were the only two followers in a room full of leaders.

They'd started a deadpool on who'd be bumped off first.

Saruman cleared his throat. "There are no threats." He said, simply. "Nobody can defeat us. When was the last time anybody ever did? It took three armies and a wizard to stop me. However, for some of our less powerful members," (money changed hands quickly, as Wesley bumped Saruman to the top of his list, and Sweet Tooth upped the odds of Cobra Commander dying first) "There seem to be two threats who may pose the slightest threat. Two fellowships, one lead by the Autobot leader, Optimus Prime, and the other by a small town Sheriff known as Woody."

Baron Dante gave Saruman a quizzical look. "Prime I can understand, but why does this "Woody" seem like a threat to you?"

"He in himself is not the problem; it is his allies, and his strength as a leader. Never underestimate a powerful leader Baron, Optimus Prime and Woody could both rival Aragorn in nobility, and that makes them the more dangerous then any of the other teams, even the one lead by the son of the North Wind. They could pose a threat if not dealt with."

Johann Liebert was bored. As he always did when he was bored, he imagined killing his temporary bedfellows. And utterly breaking them first of course. Saruman would be the easiest. Much like the story of Puss In Boots, all that would take was a few carefully placed goads. "Avoid them." Said Johann, a slight smile gracing his lips. "If you're so frightened, just convince Prime's team that Woody's team is evil and needs to be killed."

"Like you did with the Fraternity?" Wesley chuckled. "I still can't believe you brought back those pieces of..."

"We need all the disposable minions we can get to throw at our enemies." Interrupted Dogbert. "Especially those with special abilities like those you killed among the Fraternity."

Wesley shrugged. He wasn't going to take any flak either.

"We won't have any sort of problem with disposable minions now though." Cobra Commander hissed. "With my troops all being subjected to Saruman's Uruk-Hai formula, we will have more than enough manpower to take on any force who can oppose us. If it weren't for the small problem of our weapons factories needing desperate funds."

Baron Dante rolled his eyes. "We do not need funding; we can take the required resources by force."

"A fool's endeavor", said Cobra Commander. "That would require many seperate raids to acquire all the needed resources. Also, there are too many opportunities for others to sabotage our plans. Sometimes I wonder why Dogbert even chose to include you in our joint venture, Baron".

"Actually, I already had an idea when it comes to acquiring the necessary funds." said Dogbert, cutting across before the Baron had a chance to make a retort to the silver-masked man's comment.

"Oh really? Cobra Commander hissed. "What is this plan?"

"You don't need to worry about it. It's already underway."

Even though he wore a mask, it was easy to see the Cobra Commander was about to start another angry tirade, but Saruman stepped in.

"Good." said Saruman. "With that under control, we can move ahead towards our true goal."

He said this with such authority, in such a deep, silky, honeyed tone, that only Dogbert and Johann weren't compelled to agree. Those two had no souls, and empty as they were, they were not effected by Saruman's majestic words. Dogbert wanted this conglomeration of villains to run smoothly, and Johann was bored and trying how best to kill an evil like Dogbert, so neither of them said anything about it.

"The Instruments of Time will soon be ours." Said Baron Dante, almost childlike glee written on his face.

Dogbert nodded. "Thank you for the progress report gentlemen. Meeting adjourned."

A small group of people, about ten or so, walked into the Wall Street Stock Exchange. Normally, this building was swarming with people, but today it was empty due to a terrorist attack which had emptied the building, in reality a lie concocted to get everyone out of the building.

The leader shot the others a glance. Everybody else already had black masks on, over their black suits. She, on the other hand, didn't. She only had a thick pair of sunglasses and her long matted hair to hide what she was.

"Hey, what are you doing in here!" cried a voice. The group turned to see a lone security guard, seemingly escorting some of the stragglers from the building.

The leader of the group pulled out a handgun and shot the security guard twice in the chest.

The guard fell to his knees. "R-run…" he managed to choke out.

"If word of what we're doing in here gets out, our whole operation is ruined." The leader explained as the witnesses ran. "Nothing personal." She raised her gun and was about to

Then a motorbike smashed through a window, ridden by man in black leather with a flaming skull for a head.

The rider swung a chain that knocked down two of the gang members before wrapping around another one's neck and pulling him towards the rider.

"SUFFER FOR YOUR SINS!" said the rider, looking into the eyes of the man as he screamed.

The leader watched impassively as her comrade fell to the ground, a shivering wreck. "Detain him." She said, walking forward calmly, to complete her mission.

One of the foot soldiers managed to break out of his fear-induced paralysis long enough to pull out a shotgun, and was about to shoot the flame-headed nightmare when a ball of blue energy hit him in the chest and sent him flying backwards.

The others looked up to a higher walkway to see a figure in bulky red and orange armour with a green visor and a cannon of some kind replacing one arm.

The rest open fired.

"Typical." The leader snorted, as she opened up her suitcase, and attached it to a computer.

Bullets emptied into both the skull demon and the armored man. The woman ducked behind a pillar, the shots making marks on her armor, and began to return fire. The men were on their watch now though, and they weren't such sitting ducks to get caught again.

The demon just stood and laughed as the bullets rained on him.

Over the sound of gunfire, screeching wheels and screaming people was heard from outside. The CIA, SWAT, and every other terrorist-fighting force Wall Street could get ahold of were already outside. They were drawn to this particular side of the building by the flaming trail left by the Ghost Rider's bike.

A man wearing a black costume, riddled with spikes even along the red cape, emerged from the shadows and guarded the entrance. Men ran forward, guns drawn, and were immediately sent running by the man – if he was a man – as he flourished his cape, and it became an impenetrable wall of gnashing spikes.

The Ghost Rider advanced on the helpless gang members, not even slowed down as they didn't let up firing. They began to back away in a panic.

All of this left the leader undeterred. Until she heard the explosion.

Turning around, she saw a man in military fatigues. In one hand, he held the detonator to the mine he'd used to dispatch her troops. In the other, he held a gun, pointed directly for her head.

"You're coming with us." He said.

She bared her white fangs. "For the wizard!" She roared, snapping her briefcase shut and slamming it into the man's head.

He had time to duck the killing blow, or to shoot her in the head. But not both. She was fast. He chose to duck, and when he did pull the trigger the shot went wild. He now noticed that her skin was a deep bloody shade of red.

"Snake!" The figure in the red armour called. Only now would anyone watching realize she was a girl. "Right hand!"

Snake had time to grab the girl's wrist and pull it up before she pulled her own trigger and sent a crossbow bolt loose. The hand-held crossbow had a repeating design, and the bolts were designed to kill in the most painful way possible.

From the dust of Snake's explosion, the others emerged. Each of them had taken off their masks, revealing deep blood red skin. They roared like lions, and drew medieval swords.

If the Ghost Rider was scared, he didn't show it.

Solid Snake and the leader engaged in a brief melee. Every blow he struck would be blocked. Every punch she swung would leave a mark. Snake soon realized that if it came to who would be able to take the most punishment he would lose. But neither could bring their weapons to bear without the other stopping them.

A flicker of her eyes.

That was all the warning Snake had before she ducked to the left. He ducked to the right to compensate, and immediately got hit by one of Samus' bolts.

"Snake!"

He collapsed, and felt a crossbow bolt lodge itself in his shoulder. If he hadn't falling, it would've sliced right through him, ribcage or not.

The leader ran, carrying her suitcase with her. She ducked and weaved through Samus' energy bolts. The Ghost Rider had finished mowing down her comrades with his hellfire chain, and he chased her.

His speed was otherworldly.

She caught up to him in a flash and grabbed her jacket. But she was stronger then the average human, and it tore off as she refused to slow down. She leaped high over the head of the hellspawn guarding the entrance, whistling as she did.

An ice cream van drove in front of the building, bravely putting itself in-between the hellspawn and the authority's gunfire. She overshot, and slid on the clean roof of the van, but managed to grab ahold of the plastic ice cream cone on top. Without even a parting taunt, she let the ice cream van carry her away.

With manic laughter, the Ghost Rider tore through the hellspawn, leaping at the first vehicle he came across. He pulled the out of shape police officers away from their patrol car and took the wheel. It lit up with hellfire, and tore down the road after the ice cream van.

Samus, meanwhile, ran down to Snake. "Are you all right?"

He grimaced, and pulled the crossbow bolt out. He screamed in agony as it took part of his shoulder blade with it. The cruel barbs in the bolt would have their pound of flesh. "Nothing that'll slow me down." He muttered, as he staggered to his feet.

"Spawn, get in here!" Samus yelled, as she and Snake stumbled to the exit.

Spawn turned his back on the police officers, cape still forming a protective shield in case any were stupid enough to fire after what they just saw.

"We have to go after Ghost Rider." Samus said, getting on the specter's flaming bike.

Snake picked up the scrap of clothe. It had the symbol of a white hand and a snake on it. "More Cobra Commandos." He growled. "Enhanced ones." He got on the bike with Samus and Spawn. "We're in for a ride."

They drove out into the open, into the anti-terrorist squad's storm of bullets.

Four teenagers stepped off the train in a dingy London Underground station. They seemed to be attracting a fair amount of attention, possibly due to one of them having oddly grey skin.

The fact that they were accompanied by a unicorn and a dragon didn't help either.

Little did they know that they were being watched by more than just curious bystanders.

_**Next chapter will see the beginning of the Battle in London Arc!**_

_**I would also point out that all my other stories minus The Psychic Jinjuuriki and Marvel vs Jump are delayed**_


	6. Wild Card

"So where exactly is the crack supposed to form?" asked Tigress as she and the others sat in a small cafe. She was wearing a thin hoodie to cover her inhumanness.

"Somewhere near the Tower of London." Said Lupin. "I doubt we're the only ones who know where the crack is going to appear, though, so we'd best keep on the lookout for trouble. At the very least, the rift site will be swarming with Cybermen. And then there's the fact that Deadpool went to the bathroom half an hour ago, and hasn't come back yet."

Tigress' eyes narrowed, and she looked around the café. They were all there. Po was in a similar disguise, but with a strange braded wig and coloured glasses. Only Deadpool was missing.

"If you knew he left, why didn't you say anything?"

Lupin shrugged. "Deadpool's a wild card, as far as I can tell. And it's best not to try and keep a leash on wild cards. Besides, if you plan well enough, nothing can surprise you."

Suddenly, a huge explosion was heard from outside. It shook the café enough that Lupin, leaning back on his chair, fell onto the floor.

"Why did I let Po choose our travelling companions?" Tigress growled to herself as she, Dante, Po, Lupin and Jigen darted from the cafe.

"What was that?" Asked Tobias, hearing the explosion. He glided to another spot on the rooftop. His ears were only as good as a human's, but he could at least see where the explosion came from with his Falcon eyes.

"We don't have time to investigate every little explosion we happen to hear." Shen said dismissively.

"Why not?"

"Well because…" Shen paused. "Because we have an Instrument to claim. Bigby and the others are waiting." It didn't really answer the spirit of Tobias' question, but it answered the letter.

Bigby had split them into two groups of three to attract less attention and cover more ground. Tobias, Kurt and Shen were to rendezvous with Bigby and Rainbow Dash at the rift site after they had picked up Trafalgar. They were making their way across the rooftops to avoid some of the chaos that would no doubt surround a giant peacock and a mutant. How Bigby planned on slipping Rainbow Dash through the crowds with him was beyond Shen.

"What if it's our friends in danger over there?" Tobias asked.

"I am inclined to agree with Tobias." Kurt supplied.

"Bigby and the others can handle themselves." Said Shen, in the same dismissive tone. "Besides, it is far more likely, that two factions of our enemies are finally fighting each other."

Deadpool looked across to the six beings he had just saved from the brown skull-headed creature currently pinned to the ground by a katana stabbed through its head. A purple unicorn, a dragon and four teenagers; a boy and a girl in school uniforms, another boy in a blue and white outfit, and a grey-skinned girl in an orange outfit.

"Is everyone alright?" Asked Deadpool.

"You're... missing an arm." Said the unicorn.

"We could have handled him on our own." growled the grey-skinned girl.

"After he'd blown you all to pieces?" Asked Deadpool. He got up from his relaxed position on the creature's skull and picked up his arm. "His stabby pole thing was inches away from you! Never mind, I'll not bother next time if this is the thanks I get for getting my arm blown off to save you guys..." He shook his dismembered arm at them for emphasis.

Strangely, they didn't seem to notice.

"Look out!" shouted the boy in blue and white. Deadpool dodged to the left as the creature stabbed down with its weapon, not even looking round. The explosion created when the staff blade hit the ground forced the group to cover their faces to shield from the dust and almost made Deadpool drop his arm.

"Huh." He said. "That was bigger then your usual kaboom."

The grey-skinned girl let out a high pitch, wailing, metallic scream  
>and started to glow with yellow energy. A wave of the yellow energy washed over the creature, paralysing it while Deadpool held his arm up to where it had previously been attached, allowing it to reconnect to his body.<p>

"I'm not even going to ask how you just did that", said the boy in blue and white.

Deadpool dodged another swipe of the creature's staff as it broke free of its paralysis. "Hey guys, how do you kill a circus?" Asked Deadpool as he stabbed a katana into it where its neck joined its body.

"Go for the juggler!" He finished, using the katana to wedge its back open. It opened a little with no blood, revealing a slimy brown creature inside, before the creature kicked Deadpool back. The creature leapt onto him, its large foot pinning Deadpool's arms to the ground, and it was about to bring its staff down through his head when it the boy in white and blue running at it at incredible speed, his entire body surrounded by blue energy.

Unfortunately for him the creature was able to block his every move and knock him back with a well-placed kick to the stomach. The boy was incredibly fast and strong, but it seemed he lacked any real combat experience, and the creature's killer instincts allowed it to easily gain the upper hand.

It then turned its attention back to Deadpool.

Only to find that he was no longer there.

"IRONIC PUNISHMENT TIME!" shouted Deadpool, jamming a grenade in the gap in the creature's back from behind.

The resulting explosion blew its back wide open. When the smoke cleared, however, the slimy creature inside it was gone.

"Well, good luck with whatever you're doing here", said Deadpool, walking away. "I've got a team to..."

Then Deadpool heard an unmistakable sound. The sound of metal feet on the march

"Ah, that's just great", groaned Deadpool. "These guys again?"

Shen, Tobias and Kurt heard the stomping sound from the rooftops.

"What are those?" Shen asked.

"Cybermen." Tobias said. "It looks like they've found their way here."

"So these are the fabled Cybermen?" Shen raised an eyebrow as he risked a glance down at the street below. "Everything's going as expected then."

"Come on you two, the others have got to go and find Trafalgar before they get here." Said Kurt. "We have plenty of time to go take a look at what's going on down below".

"PRIMARY DIRECTIVE: ELIMINATE ALL OBSTACLES TO THE COLLECTION OF THE ORB OF COBITINUA." Said the leader of the group of Cybermen surrounding Woody, Buzz, Mickey, Stitch, Peter and Jack. "YOU WILL BE DELETED!"

"Any good spells for a situation like this?" whispered Woody to Mickey.

"Are you kidding?" Stitch scoffed and began to take apart a blackberry. "Give me three seconds and I'll destroy them with science."

Mickey raised his arms in arcane pose. "You won't have three seconds. By the Dreadlocks of Durkanna… _**DELETE!**_"

Po, Tigress, Dante, Lupin and Jigen saw the Cybermen before Deadpool did. But something was different about these ones than the Cybermen they fought at the factory (or the ones the others were encountering now, for that matter).

Tigress and Lupin stopped, and motioned for the others to follow their example.

"Hey, what's the hold up?" Po asked.

"Something's wrong." Tigress hissed.

"I concur." Lupin frowned.

There was none of the usual Cyberman order and efficiency.

These Cybermen didn't march, they shambled.

"What the heck is up with these ones?" Asked Dante as one of the Cybermen approached.

_**Today's teams... well, they've all technically appeared before, except for PEJP Bengtzone V2's. The teams last time were chosen by A. Fox and Spawnzilla014**_


	7. Old enemies

Vader walked past the pieces of the Cybermen, flanked by five of the skull-faced creatures, which Teridax had informed him were known as Rahkshi. The sounds of battle echoed all around him.

"You know what to do?" He asked a tan Rahkshi with blue hands and feet. It nodded and split off from the main group.

That was all the reply Vader needed. He went back to the innocent civilians.

* * *

><p>"What are those things?" asked the boy in white and blue as the Cybermen came into view.<p>

"Metal men who want to delete us or something." Deadpool shrugged. "I wasn't really listening when Lupin gave me the whole explanation. Just watch out for their zappy hands".

"Got it", said the grey-skinned girl, as three long, metal blades came out of her hands.

It took a few seconds before Deadpool realized something was up.

"WAITAMINUTE!" Yelled the mercenary. "Where the heck did you get those claws? They're exactly like Logan's claws!"

The girl looked at him incredulously. "You know someone who..." began the girl, but the Cybermen interrupted her.

They started firing on the group, who were saved by a pink force field, glowing the same color as the unicorn's horn.

"Guys, focus! We can talk about that later! Right now we've got bigger problems!"

* * *

><p>Dante blocked the Cyberman's hand with his sword, then fired a shot into the cyborg's empty eyehole with the gun faster than it could blink. The Cyberman stumbled backwards, before going on the assault again. But Dante didn't give it a chance, slashing its head off cleanly, then stabbing his sword down through its body at the neck. This was not a fight. This was a slaughter.<p>

Unfortunately, that wasn't the last of them. Quite the opposite, in fact, as the defective Cybermen had surrounded them and were closing in on all sides. He readied his sword and his gun calmly.

"We're trapped!" Tigress called as the group backed into a tighter circle. She was less then confident in the abilities of their fighters when faced against machines.

"Leave that to me." Jigen said. He shot one end of an overhead power-line and the cable swung down, hitting several of the Cybermen and short-circuiting them.

With the herd thinned in that area, the five of them ran through, Dante, Po and Tigress taking out any Cybermen in their path.

The group turned a corner, almost running headlong into another group of Cybermen, these ones marching normally.

They immediately ducked down an alleyway to avoid a mass deletion, but were surprised to find that these Cybermen weren't pursuing them.

"CORRUPTED UNITS DETECTED." Said the Cyberleader. It stood at the front of the normal Cybermen, as the ones that had been attacking Tigress' team earlier arrived. "COMMENCE SYSTEM PURGE. ALL CORRUPTED UNITS MUST BE DELETED."

The non-defective Cybermen raised their left arms. These appeared to be a newer model with wrist-mounted energy blasters. Most of the 'corrupted' Cybermen were gunned down by the normal ones, but a handful of them managed to reach their target before being destroyed, grabbing hold of some of the normal Cybermen. The ones that had been grabbed struggled to break free before the others shot them down along with the corrupted Cybermen.

"RETURNING TO PRIMARY OBJECTIVE." Said the Cyberleader. "CONVERGE ON THE RIFT SITE".

The Cybermen marched off in the direction they had been going, leaving the remains of the destroyed Cybermen where they lay, and leaving the small band of heroes unpursued.

"Come on." whispered Lupin. "They know the rift's exact location, we may as well let them lead us to it. But make sure they don't see or hear us".

The others nodded, before creeping out after the Cybermen.

* * *

><p>"So, any idea whereabouts in this city the rift to the Instrument is supposed to appear?" Asked Mickey, the remains of the Cybermen destroyed by his spell scattered around the area.<p>

"Negative." Said Buzz. Stitch muttered something similar, though he added some colorful expletives about 'witchfraft' and 'think's he's all that'.

"Well, finding it should be easy." Said Peter. "Lots of other people are looking for the orb too, so just follow the explosions."

Then they heard heavy footsteps approaching, along with many metal footsteps following after them.

"More Cybermen?" Asked Peter.

"No, too disorganized." Woody said. He looked to the head of the alley where the heavy footsteps were coming from, and the back where they'd come from, and where the metal footsteps were emanating.

Stitch' Curiosity got the better of him, and he scurried ahead of the main group, to peer around the front of the alley. A heavy, purple felt foot stepped in front of his vision before he could get very far.

"Evenin' boys." Said what appeared to be a large purple bear holding a huge Gatling gun in one paw. He was followed by a large number of Cybermen coming around the other corner, though Stitch could tell there was something not quite right about this particular group.

"Lotso?" asked Buzz in surprise.

"The one and only!" he said, before he opened fire on them. Most of the group were forced to dive for cover; only Stitch seemed unaffected by the hail of bullets, standing up and yawning as he took the brunt of the attack. The Cybermen opened fire from behind, but Buzz's spherical energy shield covered them all from the energy attack

"Well I'll be damned", said Lotso momentarily ceasing firing, the tip of the gatling gun red hot and smoking. "You're completely bulletproof ain't you?"

"Quite." Stitch looked quite proud of himself. "It's my fluffiness, you see."

Woody was just getting up, dusting off his Stetson, when he saw something in the shadows above him. "Oh no." He muttered. "Stitch! Lotso never works alone! He always has a partner, stronger then he is!"

The bear looked to someone (or something) above him and grinned.

"Looks like we got ourselves a tough one, eh Carnage?"

Suddenly, a red creature sprang from the shadows and onto Stitch. He managed to pull the creature off him and throw it high into the air, but before it crashed down on a nearby roof, it fired a long, web-like structure from its hand and pulled Stitch after it.

Lotso laughed and opened fire again, but a gentlemanly skeleton stepp up in front of his friends. When the gatling gun roared back to life, Skellington just laughed, as the bullets went straight into his evening coat without a scratch, not coming out the other side.

"Flush the rest of them out!" Lotso ordered the Cybermen, who obeyed, shambling out after the ones who had bullet-holes in them from Lotso's attack. Buzz's shields only protected the group from energy attacks, so Woody was quick to draw, and put six bullets into six Cybermen's weak points.

"Can't you… you know… delete them again!" Woody yelled to Mickey.

"That was a one time spell." Mickey said, trying to focus his arcanic power on the other Cybermen. "I can't do it twice the same day."

Woody was forced to reload. There were more than six Cybermen. And it wasn't long before they managed to catch Peter and throw him out into the open beyond Jack Skellington.

"No!" They all yelled.

Lotso's aim shifted fire again but Peter took to the skies. A few of the Cybermen opened fire at him in the air with wrist-mounted weapons, but he narrowly avoided the shots for the time being.

Even so, with Lotso and the Cybermen shooting at him, he wouldn't last long.

Suddenly, something appeared behind Lotso. As he turned to see what it was, a falcon flew into him from behind, tearing the Gatling gun from his paws.

A strange sense of calmness overwhelmed him, and for a moment, there he wondered why he was concerned about anything. Then he came back to his senses, as the falcon transformed in mid-air into a carbon-copy of Lotso himself.

Lotso reached for the gun on the ground, but some blue-furred creature behind him kicked the gun away and the bear's doppelganger moved between Lotso and his gun.

"Kill him!" Lotso shouted to the Cybermen.

"No, kill him!" The copy pointed.

The Cybermen looked from one to the other, unable to decide.

"Your minions don't know who to obey." Kurt gloated. "Obviously the virus they've been corrupted with tells them to obey either your voice or your appearance. They don't know what to do when there are two of you."

Lotso cursed under his breath. "Well, ain't you a clever one?" He pulled out a grenade. "I hate the clever ones!" He chucked it into the alley, and ran.

"Everybody down!" Buzz yelled, but Jack Skellington simply caught the grenade with a bony heel, played hacky sack with it for a bit, then punted it backwards to the Cybermen.

It was an impressive boom.

"We'll go after him." Kurt said.

"No!" Woody interrupted him. "Peter, follow him and see who he's working with. That virus is way beyond Lotso."

Peter nodded and flew after him. Jack and Mickey helped take care of the remaining Cybermen, and then when Woody turned to the strangers who had stopped Lotso, but they were already gone.

"Alright people, we've got an Instrument to find." Said Buzz after a few seconds, when it was clear Woody had more important things on his mind then immediate command.

"No, we have to find Stitch first." Said Woody. "You heard him, he hates clever ones. Whatever virus he used for the Cybermen, and whatever else he's planning, you can bet we'll need Stitch to stop him."

Buzz nodded. "Alright. Let's find our alien friend." He grabbed Woody, and Jack grabbed Mickey, and together they raced towards the rooftops in search of their sixth member.

And all the while Woody was pondering the questions: 'Who were those guys? What did they want? And What do they know that we don't?'


	8. At the rift site

"You shouldn't have stepped in like that." Said Shen as Tobias and Kurt returned.

"So you're saying we should have let the guy get gunned down?" Tobias asked, annoyed at Shen's comment.

Shen didn't answer his question, opting instead to answer a question that should have been asked. "Now that bear creature knows of our existence, your shape-shifting abilities and Kurt's teleportation. He has escaped, and there can be no doubt he is working for some greater threat."

"You really think there's some 'greater threat' then the bear?" asked Tobias. "He seemed to have his act together."

Shen sniffed. "Oh, trust me. I can tell the leaders from the followers. The bear was a leader, but that red creature was most definitely not a follower. And unless the bear is far more competent then we have been led to believe, he could not control it. There is a reason this was supposed to be a secret operation. There is definitely a greater threat."

#####

Three men stood outside the Tower, waiting for the rift to open. One of them was hidden in the shadows. Another, a man in a clown suit, was whistling a jaunty tune and handing out balloons to any children that might pass by. The man in the black coat and sunglasses was the only normal looking one. His mobile rang, and he answered it after only a quick glance at Caller ID.

"Did you dispose of them?" He asked.

"They had help." said Lotso over the phone. "A shapeshifter and a teleporting guy with dark blue fur. The shapeshif..."

That was all he heard before the phone exploded in his hand.

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but your ass-kicking appointment was way overdue" said Deadpool as he stepped from the shadows, followed by four teenagers, a unicorn and a dragon.

"Mr. Wilson, it's been too long", said the man.

"Spare me the snootiness, Weskie", said Deadpool. "I'm here to..."

Wesker shot Deadpool in the head before he finished his sentence, then turned to the clown that stood beside him. "Children are your specialty, aren't they, Pennywise?"

#####

It didn't take Woody and the others long to find Stitch and the red creature Lotso had called Carnage. The fact they had destroyed several rooftops and most of a subway in their brawl probably had something to do with that. When they found the two, they had moved the fight out into the middle of a road, which a web-bound Stitch was currently getting slammed into by Carnage.

Stitch had realized early on in the fight that this was an opponent who fought not for money, not for their goals, not for what they believed in.

This was a being who fought because they liked to kill people.

It would make it that much easier to outsmart the thing.

Probably.

Carnage extended his talons to a foot long as Stitch tore his way out of the webs, the genetic experiment leaping to the side just in time to dodge a vicious slash from the claws. Stitch leapt onto Carnage's back, grabbing the red monster's arms. He placed a foot on Carnage's back and pulled his arms back, almost tearing them off before spikes shot out of Carnage's body and knocked Stitch off his back. Before Stitch had even hit the ground, Carnage shot a web onto him and slammed him against a wall.

Mickey stepped forward, but Woody held up a hand to stop him.

"Let Stitch have this one." said Woody. Mickey nodded reluctantly and stepped back. There was a reason Woody was the leader.

Stitch grabbed the web Carnage had attached to him and swung him into the air by it, but Carnage severed the line in midair and grew a pair of huge red wings before firing a pair of webs at the blue alien.

Stitch reached down with all four arms and tore a huge slab of the road in front of him from the ground. He blocked the webs with it before throwing it away into the distance. Carnage laughed as he threw a handful of symbiote knives at Stitch, not realizing until too late that the chunk of road had swung round a building, with the efficiency of a boomerang, to crash right into him.

Woody, Buzz, and Mickey rushed over to Stitch, but before they could reach him an explosion rocked the ground and they found the area covered in smoke.

Things seemed to move in slow motion as Mickey looked around for the others, coughing from the smoke. He saw Jack getting struck down by a silver-haired man in a long red coat, but before he could reach the skeleton to help him out, a panda landed in front of him and blocked the way.

"Get out of the way." Mickey yelled.

The panda shook his head. "I'd like to see you make me move." He said, standing in a Kung Fu stance.

Mickey shot a bolt of magical energy from his hand.

"WOAH!" The panda dodged the attack, but just barely. "That would be so cool if you weren't trying to kill me!"

Mickey suddenly frowned. That bolt wasn't designed to kill. Did this panda really think that – his thought process was thrown as the panda punched him back into a wall.

Mickey groaned, and cast a quick healing spell. Fortunately, while it still hurt he was able to breathe again, and just barely leapt to the side to dodge a spinning kick from the panda.

Woody narrowly dodged a bullet shot by a man in a green jacket, dodging behind the corner of a nearby building, only to spot a larger man wearing a hat with a notch in it about to shoot at him from afar. Buzz pulled Woody out of the way, the bullet narrowly missing his head but shattering his domed helmet. Buzz shot back, the other man diving behind a parked car.

"This was an ambush!" Woody said. "They were expecting us to follow Stitch! Buzz, I can handle a couple of gunmen, go help the others!"

"Are you sure?" Buzz asked.

"I'll be fine." Woody said with a slight grin. "I'm the best cowboy in the west. But it looks like they set this trap specifically to counter-act our specific skillset... you need to get out of this gunfight, and help the others! And find Jack and Peter! They keep chosing the worst times to wander off."

Buzz nodded, and took to the skies.

Stitch turned just in time to duck under a flying kick from an anthropomorphic tigress. He managed to grab her by the leg and throw her into a wall, but she leapt off the wall and spun round to kick Stitch in the head. With the same agility he'd been using to fight Carnage for the past fifteen minutes, he ducked as if she were moving in slow motion.

As Stitch looked up, for a second he thought he saw himself standing back-to-back with the feline martial artist, before she leapt back, the smoke that had looked like him swirling away into nothingness. As she came running back at him, he pondered the implications of this, as well as whether or not Carnage was ready to attack him yet. Stitch blocked her blow with one hand.

"What have you done with Po and the others?" Demanded Tigress.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Replied a distracted Stitch.

"Liar! I saw you grab them and carry them away." she replied.

"Nope, not me." Said Stitch. "Are you sure you aren't confusing me  
>with one of my cousins?"<p>

Tigress tried to strike Po again, but he grabbed her arm and threw her  
>into the air. She spun round and landed on a nearby rooftop.<p>

"Or maybe it was something else." He looked around, and saw no sign of Carnage anywhere. "Shapeshifters? Possibility. Magical Illusion? … I suppose I'll have to ask Mickey if I'm to rule that out…" He looked around. "Where did he go?"

Tigress leaped down in front of him, and he smiled. "Hello. Would you like to help me look for our friends?"

Tigress lunged forward with a punch, and Stitch simply used her own momentum against her to fling her back. "Thought not." He muttered, and he raced off.

Wesker watched as Shinji, Rei, Kernor and Micro-ice locked the door after them as they fled into an abandoned shop from the monster that had been pursuing them for the last half-hour.

"Your allies are mere children, Mr. Wilson", he said not turning round as Deadpool raised a gun to the back of his head. "And mine are creatures not of this world. What hope do you think you stand? Did you hope to take the Instru..."

BANG

Wesker moved to the side, dodging Deadpool's shot, as his white-haired accomplice shot a beam of energy from one hand, his face temporarily flickering into a blue skull, like an x-ray image with living eyes.

The beam hit Deadpool in the chest, knocking him to the ground.

"Wow, who's your new friend Weskie?" said Deadpool, struggling to get the words out. The beam had badly seared his body (Nothing his healing factor couldn't fix, but it certainly didn't help in the meanwhile) and he was more or less paralyzed by the energy.

"My name is the Master." said the man, his face once again flickering into skull form for a split-second. "And I'm so very hungry..."

As he slowly walked towards Deadpool, the mutant mercenary realised  
>something.<p>

"Wait a minute." he said. "You're not planning to..."

The unicorn and the dragon rushed over to help Deadpool, but the Master shot another beam at them. The unicorn erected another pink force-field, but the beam began to force its way through.

Then a howling wind blew through the area. The Master shielded himself from the wind with his arms, forcing him to stop the assault on the unicorn and the dragon. He looked to the source of the unnatural wind to see three strangers; a wolflike man, a blue Pegasus-like winged pony and a man in a Dalmatian-coloured top-hat, blue jeans and a yellow and black long- sleeved t-shirt with an unusual round face-like emblem on it.

"Hi guys!" said the Pegasus.

"Rainbow Dash?" said the unicorn in surprise.

The three newcomers leapt from the rooftop just before it exploded. Wesker smiled as Lotso trudged into view from one of the nearby streets with Carnage flying behind him on large red wings. Then the rift opened with a mighty roar.


	9. Illusions all around

Wesker was the first to act, dashing towards the rift, followed by the Master and Lotso. Rainbow Dash tried to chase after them, barely noticing the area around them beginning to glow blue, but found her path blocked by a wall of red symbiote spikes. Carnage wasn't letting them go that easily.  
>Wesker, the Master and Lotso vanished from view as the spikes were fired in all directions.<br>"Tact", said the newcomer in the black-and-white hat, pointing upwards with one hand as a chunk of the ground tore itself up and got in the  
>way of the attack.<br>"Thanks Trafalgar", said Bigby as Carnage leapt towards them. "Leave this part to..."  
>He didn't get to finish his statement as suddenly everyone present was blasted with the force of a hurricane. They were tossed against a wall as five beings approached.<br>_**Those are the creatures who attacked us in the warehouse**_, thought Bigby as five of them strode into view. _**But who's leading them?**_  
>His questions were answered as a man wearing all black stepped to the head of the group. He wore a mask which obscured his face and a long cape.<br>"Dispose of them", Vader ordered the Rahkshi as he walked on towards the rift.

* * *

><p>Dante fired round after round at the skeleton, but he dodged every bullet. Despite being a skeleton, Jack seemed to be able to move as if he had no bones at all. Seeing as how his attacks weren't effective against Jack, Dante drew his sword and ran towards his adversary, He swung his sword in an arc, intending to cut the skeleton in half, but Jack leapt over the blade and landed atop a nearby lamppost.<br>Lighting the end of a stick he was carrying in the old-fashioned street lamp (had they walked through a time crack into the Victorian era? The bulidings around them certainly looked older), Jack raised his new burning torch above his head, and ate the flame like a fire-breather. As Jack suddenly burst into flames, Dante leapt up to slash at him, but the Pumpkin King leapt towards him, kicking Rebellion from his hands.  
>Dante narrowly dodged a barrage of acrobatic blazing kicks, drawing his handguns again. Normally, Jack wouldn't have been worried about bullets, but he could sense a strange energy coming from the bullets these guns fired, so he leapt back away from the silver-haired man, landing in a nearby fountain.<br>Retrieving his sword, Dante watched as Jack rose out of the fountain. The flames had gone out and it seemed as though they had done no damage to Jack's suit at all.  
>"Ready for another round?" asked Dante.<p>

* * *

><p>Pennywise approached the corridor at the back of the shop to find the grey-skinned girl not running from him, blocking the corridor.<p>

"Have your friends all run off and left you here all alone?" asked the clown mockingly.  
>Kernor shook her head. "I stayed behind to fight you".<br>The clown gave a laugh, before lunging at her with a clawed hand, stabbing her through the chest. He pulled his claw out, now covered in blood, and continued on his way until he felt a hand grab his leg.  
>"I'm not done with you yet", said Kernor, the stab wounds to her chest gone.<br>"So you heal quick, interesting", said the clown, turning round. "But what if I was to tear your head off and eat it or..."  
>He was interrupted by the wall next to him exploding as a panda was launched through it. Pennywise quickly grabbed and was about to stab his claws through his face when his hand was cut off by Kernor, now wielding an energy sword of some kind.<p>

As Po fell from the clown's grip, he saw bodies at the clown's feet. Tigress, Master Shifu, Monkey, Mantis, Crane, Viper Lupin, Jigen, Dante...  
>"This can't be happening..." said Po in shock.<br>"It's not", said a familiar voice, as Mickey entered the building. "He's just changing forms to match your worst fears. He's like a Boggart".  
>Pennywise darted toward Mickey as the sorceror whispered an incantation. Mickey realised too late that he wouldn't have time to finish the spell...<br>Just before the claw reached him, Po caught one talon between his finger and thumb

_**Is that... the Wuxi finger hold?**_ said Mickey in amazement. _**I **__**thought it was just a myth...**_  
>Pennywise tried to break free, but he had no chance to escape before Po acted.<br>"Skadoosh!"

* * *

><p>The tan Rahkshi watched as Stitch and Tigress fought each other on the street below as Woody's gunfight with Lupin and Jigen raged on. Dante and Jack had disappeared, possibly through another Time Crack, and Po and Mickey had crashed through a building and vanished from sight.<p>

If anyone had been there to see it, and known enough about Rahkshi, they would have been able to identify this as a Rahkshi of Illusion. Vader had sent it with the purpose of slowing down others who might be trying to acquire the Instruments. All it had taken were a few well-placed illusions depicting the opposite team striking down or kidnapping their allies and they were fighting each other like mortal enemies.  
>"Don't look now, but there's a skull-faced spiked monster watching us from one of the rooftops", whispered Stitch to Tigress as he blocked a punch from his feline opponent. "I have a feeling it might be behind this whole fight".<br>Tigress caught a glimpse of the Rahkshi out of the corner of her eye, not looking round in case it saw her.  
>"Say I believe you..." began Tigress.<br>"Keep fighting", interrupted Stitch. "It'll flee or attack or something if it knows we've seen it".  
>"Fine", said Tigress, as she attacked again, trying to punch Stitch only for the alien to duck below her fist. "What do you propose we do?"<br>"Simple", said Stitch, grabbing her by the leg. "Go get him".  
>And with that, he hurled Tigress toward the building the Rahkshi was standing on.<br>Thinking fast, Tigress was able to spin round and land safely on a window ledge before leaping up after the creature, only to see Lupin standing at the top.  
>"Lupin? What are you..." began Tigress, but before she could finish, Lupin lunged at her with a bladed staff.<br>Of course, Tigress had known something was up from the moment she saw Lupin on the roof, and was able to dodge the attack, and kicked "Lupin" back with enough force to not only knock him over, but also to shatter the illusion, revealing the Rahkshi underneath. As it fell, the Rahkshi folded its legs in front of it and swooped up from the ground with a humming sound.  
>"That thing's bothered us long enough", said Stitch. "I don't want it making us believe another set of allies are our enemies, or hiding Carnage and whoever he's working with from us. Buzz, shoot it down"<br>Buzz fired his laser at the creature, but it managed to swerve to the side just soon enough to make the shot non-fatal. Even so, a line was burned across its armour across its left eye.

Lupin, Jigen and Woody saw the whole thing from a distance.  
>"What do you think that was?" asked Jigen.<br>"I haven't seen anything like that creature before, but I think we can safely say this whole fight has been caused by its smoke and mirrors"  
>"I was thinking the same thing", said Woody. "Besides, out of all the shots you fired, not one seemed to be aimed to kill".<br>"Then I guess we're allies, at least for now", said Lupin, holding out a hand.  
>"Yep. Allies", said Woody as he shook Lupin's hand.<br>They looked across the city towards the tower. Smoke was rising from the area.  
>"Let's go get that Instrument", said Woody seriously, as the six of them set off.<p>

#####

"Is it dead?" asked Kernor.  
>"No; a being like him is near impossible to completely kill", said Mickey. "But that should definitely slow him down. I've added a few extra wards to the area to make it as long as possible before that monster comes back".<br>"So you don't want to, you know, kill me any more?" asked Po nervously.  
>"Anyone whose greatest fear is the death of their friends is probably not my enemy", said Mickey. "Besides, things seemed a little off from the moment the smoke appeared. Jack's posture was all wrong when that silver-haired man cut him down".<br>Po sighed. "I didn't know there was anyone that could do things like that"  
>"If you like, I could cast a memory charm to get the images out of your head".<br>"Could you do that?" asked Po in surprise.  
>"I'll leave the memory that you saw something terrible, but wipe the images of what it was", said Mickey. "That way at least you'll be aware of it if it happens again".<br>"Guys", said Kernor, looking out the window. "I think those people at the rift could use some help".  
>Po and Mickey rushed to the window.<p>

* * *

><p>It was as if Vader had chosen each Rahkshi to counter abilities like those of the group outside the tower now. The blue and purple Rahkshi now fighting Rainbow Dash had perfect accuracy with every action it made, no matter how fast she flew. The black and white Rahkshi facing Twilight Sparkle could create cyclones that deflected her every spell. Trafalgar was fighting a green and brown Rahkshi able to create and grow plants, even when cut up and stuck all around the area by the power of his Ope Ope fruit. And the maroon Rahkshi now standing over Deadpool had presumably caused him to fall into a deep sleep, nullifying the advantage of his healing factor. Bigby was currently trying to fend off the attacks of Carnage as the symbiote and its host attacked him with all manner of weapons formed from symbiote.<br>"Well, come on then", said Mickey. "Let's go help them out"

* * *

><p>Wesker, the Master and Lotso passed along another identical corridor. The place the rift had led them to was like a huge maze.<br>"So Lotso", said the Master. "What do you think we should do first when we get the orb?"  
>"We should get rid of those annoying troublemakers. You know, the ones who..."<br>Lotso narrowly managed to jump aside to dodge an energy beam. "What the heck was that for?"  
>"That's not the right answer", said the Master. "You're not really Lotso, are you?"<br>_**They had a security question,**_ thought Tobias. _**I should have thought **__**of that.**_

"So who are you r..." began the Master, before being flung off his feet by and invisible force. Tobias fled as a the newcomer approached, changing from Lotso's form into his usual falcon form quickly.  
>"Go after him", said Wesker. "I'll take good care of our guest".<br>"So be it", said Vader, drawing his lightsabre

_**I was planning to bring the "Orb in London" Arc to an end in this**__**  
>chapter, but I guess there was so much packed into it as it was that<strong>__**  
>it just wouldn't fit. Once again, thanks to Shneider-man, Mata Nui,<strong>__**  
>Italian Shizoid Boy, PEJP Bengtzone V2 and StrangePointOfView for the<strong>__**  
>teams involve in this arc. Especially StrangePointOfView, as he also<strong>__**  
>Beta-reads this story for me. Not today though, I think he's on holiday or something and I wouldn't like to keep everyone waiting. <strong>_

_**Thanks to Ian Greene for his recently added teams. They'll probably**__**  
>appear in the arc after next.<strong>_

Apologies for the long update time, I had exams. My last one was about a week ago, and since the absence of revision has left a rather gaping

_**hole in my day, I'll be able to update more frequently. In fact, I **__**plan to get four chapters a month; one per week. The first shall be for**__**  
>Instruments of time, the second shall be for The Psychic Jinjuuriki, <strong>__**the third for either Marvel vs Jump or Remnants of Galaxia, and the**__**  
>last shall be for another story, either existing (such as Dankey Kang <strong>__**Country 6, The League of App Game Heroes or The Heroes of Darkness) or**__**  
>brand new. Hope you enjoy the quicker update schedule, and apologies in advance if I can't keep to it.<strong>_


	10. Inside the Labyrinth

Vader was the first to move, lunging forward with his lightsabre, but Wesker was too fast, dashing round behind the Sith Lord and pulling a  
>handgun from his long black coat. Vader sensed Wesker's movement and spun round, slashing the air behind him where the scientist had been standing. Wesker dashed back at inhuman speeds to dodge the blow, shooting as he did, but Vader blocked each attack with ease with lightsabre, vapourising the bullets before they hit him.<br>Only after that did he see Wesker coming towards him on the offensive again with a two-handed palm attack. Vader dodged to the side, his Jedi reflexes helping him to dodge the attack successfully, and raised his hand. Wesker was lifted into the air, hands grasping at his throat as Vader choked him with the Force.  
>With the last strength he could muster, Wesker turned his gun on Vader and fired three bullets at his head. Vader blocked two of them with his lightsabre, but the third hit him in the head. The bullet barely scratched his helmet, but it was enough to break his concentration, and Wesker fell to the ground, gasping for air.<br>"So Lotso", said a voice from above them. Vader and Wesker looked up to see Wesker's group entering the room, standing on the ceiling. "What do you think we should do first when we get the orb?"  
>"We should get rid of those annoying troublemakers. You know, the ones who..."<br>The bear (who Wesker now knew to be Tobias) narrowly managed to jump aside to dodge an energy beam. "What the heck was that for?"  
>"That's not the right answer. You're not really Lotso, are you?"<br>It was an exact upside-down copy of what had happened when they had arrived. Moments later Vader arrived and attacked the group.  
>"This place clearly has more than a simple maze guarding the orb", said Wesker. <em><strong>But are these illusions, or the real thing?<strong>_ he thought.

*****

Tobias met up with Kurt and Shen in a wide open room amidst the narrow corridors of the labyrinth.  
>"I take it your cover has been blown?" said Shen disapprovingly.<br>"They had a security question, how was I supposed to know?"  
>"He's right", said Kurt. "We can argue about that later. Right now we've got an Instrument to find".<br>"Speaking of which", said Shen. "That gate behind us looks oddly suspicious".  
>And indeed it did. It looked as though it didn't know which time period it belonged in. It appeared at first glance to be an ancient gateway, like one might find on a Greek temple or such, but on closer inspection, the gate itself was made of metal and white plastic, with wires connected all around the hinges and glowing crystals set into the surfaces. The carvings on the gate arch and the pillars surrounding it didn't make sense either. It was like the pillars on opposite sides showed different outcomes of the same event; a battle between a small group of armoured warriors and a collection of bizarre monsters depicted on one pair of pillars showed the monsters winning on one side and the warriors winning on the other.<br>The ones on the gate arch itself, however, were the most surprising of all. On one side, a collection of people stood, carrying a variety of items inscribed in gold; a sword, a staff, a key, a circular object of some kind and what appeared to be a hand of some kind. Though the whole room and the labyrinth looked ancient, this pillar was undamaged and unworn, as if newly carved from the stone.  
>The other side was cracked, warped and twisted beyond repair. A variety of figures stood carrying the gold items as on the other side, but these people stood on a high building overlooking millions of people working on a monument of some kind.<br>"Is that... Wesker?" said Tobias, looking at the carving.

*****

The black and white Rahkshi crashed to the ground. Not even its strongest cyclone had been strong enough to cancel out Mickey and Twilight Sparkle's combined magic. The two spellcasters looked across at the others. Kernor's help certainly seemed to be giving Rainbow Dash the edge against the blue and purple Rahkshi of Accuracy, giving it two targets to worry about at once, while Trafalgar and Po fought against the Rahkshi of Sleep and Plant control simultaneously.

As the three remaining Rahkshi backed closer together, Trafalgar had an idea. He caught all three of them in his "room", seperated them into pieces, and assembled them into a single three-headed monstrosity, then Mickey cast a spell that fired the Rahkshi fusion into the air.  
>As Rainbow Dash flew up above it, Po leapt up beneath it, briefly glimpsing something smaller and tan in colour flying in the distance.<br>Po and Rainbow Dash hit it simultaneously, splitting it in two...

Then the illusion faded, and the two halves faded away, replaced by two halves of a wooden plank.

Po caught one glimpse of the fused Rahkshi and a tan Rahkshi with a blackened mark cutting across one eye passing through a time crack and vanishing from sight before falling to the ground.

"What happened to it?" asked Kernor. "Were they made of wood all along?"  
>"No", said Po. "We destroyed a fake. That creature with the mark across one eye..."<br>"...Was the one who had us fighting in the first place", said Stitch as he, Tigress, Lupin, Jigen, Woody and Buzz arrived. "It probably saved the creature and used its illusions to cover it".  
>"But enough of that, we've got an Instrument to collect, so let's get going", said Woody.<br>"You guys go on, I'll catch up", said Stitch.  
>"Why? Where are you going?" asked Mickey.<br>"I've got a bit of unfinished business to deal with", said Stitch. "Carnage isn't getting away this time".  
>"Come to think of it, where did Dante and that skeleton run off to?" asked Tigress. "Or Deadpool for that matter".<br>"Deadpool's here", said Po, gesturing to the sleeping mercenary.  
>"Dante and Jack aren't the only ones who've gone missing", said Mickey, while Po and Jigen attempted to wake up Deadpool. "We sent Peter to tail Lotso, but he's nowhere to be found".<br>"Well, how about the rest of you go into the portal while me and Buzz go find the others and catch up later?" suggested Woody.  
>"I'll go with you", said Kernor. "I have a few friends missing too".<br>"Sounds like a plan", said Lupin. "Let's go".  
>Lupin, Jigen, Po, Tigress, Deadpool, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Mickey, Trafalgar and Rainbow Dash ran through the portal as Woody, Buzz and Kernor set off to find the others.<p>

*****

There was no mistaking it. Wesker was amongst the figures carrying what they could only assume were the Instruments of Time depicted on the pillar.  
>"Does this help us in opening the..." began Shen, but he was cut short as he and Tobias were grabbed and teleported to the other end of the room by Kurt. They were just in time, as when they looked back to where they had been standing, there was a hole blasted through the wall. The Master stood at the entrance to the room.<br>"Oh no, you're not escaping me that easily, imposter!" he said, firing another beam from his hands which the trio only narrowly dodged, Kurt teleporting back to the door. He dodged another beam which went on to  
>hit the door itself.<p>

The door creaked as it slowly swung open, a blast of cold air escaping as it did. Behind it stood a golden statue holding a golden orb.

The Orb of Continua.

But as the Master ran into the room with the statue and the orb, blasting the gate shut as he did so, he entered a room full of hundreds of statues, each one holding an orb.  
>As the door was about to close, Shen threw a knife that jammed the door open. Kurt grabbed hold of Tobias and Shen and teleported into the statue room while he could still see it, just a split-second before the knife was crushed between the doors.<br>"You can't stop butting in, can you?" said the Master, his face flickering into skull form for a moment. "The Instruments of Time should be used by a Time Lord!"

*****

Bigby was sent flying back by Carnage's latest attack. As he got to his feet, he assessed the situation. The symbiotic monster was stronger than he had been expecting. As well as being incredibly strong and durable, it had the ability to shoot webs and shapeshift freely. And he had been badly injured during his fight with it, while it had regenerated any damage he had dealt to it. It was unlikely he could win this fight.

At least not alone

"Oy, beastie!" shouted a voice. Carnage turned his head to see Stitch arriving on the scene. He was carrying oil drums under two of his arms.  
><em><strong>What is that creature?<strong>_ thought Bigby, watching as the blue alien rolled the two barrels, the oil inside leaking everywhere.  
>"You may want to stand back", said Stitch to Bigby as he lit a match.<p>

Bigby didn't need to be told twice.

The entire street went up in flames. It was certainly fortunate there weren't any people along this road, having all fled when the fight began. Carnage grew wings and tried to fly away, but Stitch caught his leg and pulled him to the ground. It quickly became apparent that  
>Stitch was flameproof.<p>

Carnage was decidely not.

Stitch and Carnage fought each other, almost entirely hidden in the flames, but even outside the inferno Bigby could tell from the silhouettes that Carnage didn't take well to the heat. Finally, Bigby caught a glimpse of what appeared to be Stitch tearing Carnage in two amongst the roaring flames.  
>"Blow out these flames for me, would you?" said Stitch from inside the inferno. "It's hard to see where I'm going, and all these flames would make a bit of a mess..."<p>

*****

Wesker sidestepped another blow of Vader's lightsabre. The Vaders and Weskers on the ceiling were starting to build up now; there looked to be at least seven of each by now, although there was actually one fewer Wesker; Vader had tried killing one of them by throwing his lightsabre through the chest one of the Weskers. Clearly they were neither images nor their past selves.  
>"Clearly we got off on the wrong foot", said Wesker. "Why don't we put our differences aside and work to gather the Instruments? It would certainly be more productive than fighting each other".<br>"You cannot be trusted", said Vader, sending Wesker flying back against a wall with the force, before burying him under the debris from their battle. "I have no more time to waste on you. You may be strong, but you are no Sephiroth".  
>He then exited the room in the same way Tobias and the Master had gone.<p>

Not long after that, Lupin's group found their way into the room.

"What happened in here?" asked Trafalgar, looking at the debris piled in one corner and the slash-marks left in the ground.

"Looks like some kind of battle", said Lupin.  
>"And it's not over yet", said Tigress, pointing to the ceiling.<br>Lupin studied what was going on above them as Vader slammed Wesker against the wall and piled the debris on top of him.

"No, that's not it", said Lupin, pointing to a motionless figure on the ceiling. "There's a dead Wesker over there, see? And the slash-marks on the ceiling are the same as the ones on the ground. I think the ceilings play through the same battles that happen on the floor, only slightly delayed, and over and over again until they end.  
>"That's pretty freaky", said Po.<br>"How could anyone build a room like that?" asked Trafalgar. "And why? What purpose does it serve?"  
>"With an Instrument of Time at the centre, feats like this would be easily possible", said Mickey.<br>"And as for why, isn't it obvious?" said Lupin. "It's a defence mechanism. People come in, looking for the Orb, and fight with others after the same thing. Then after a while they get caught in the crossfire of their own battle"  
>"Well, at least we didn't fall victim to it", said Tigress.<br>Then the room started to shake violently. They could see the corridors and crossroads of the labyrinth begin to shift, while the debris from the ceilin fell to the ground, the unconscious copy of Wesker buried in the same pile as the real thing.

"What's going on?" asked Po.  
>"I think someone has the Instrument", said Lupin.<p>

*****

The Master held the Orb in one hand as he held Tobias, Shen and Kurt in check with his other.  
>"Now, I wonder how this thing works", said the Master. "Do I simply think what I want it to do..."<br>Five portals opened in the ceiling above him. The first dropped Wesker and a pile of rubble in front of the Time Lord, the second deposited a tied-up Lotso at his feet, the third brought him a hideously scarred knife-handed man, and the scorched remains of Carnage fell from the fourth. Nothing came from the fifth portal.  
>"Pennywise and Carnage are as good as dead", said the Master. "Oh wait, I can just bring them in from before they got in this sorry state".<br>He raised the Orb once more, ignoring the tremours echoing throughout the building, but suddenly his hand was cut off by a glowing red blade, spinning through the air.  
>Vader returned his lightsabre to his hand with the Force, pushing open the now-ruined gate as he did so, while the Master scrambled for the Orb. He caught it and held it to where his arm had been severed and the arm regrew in a flurry of green sparks. But before he could do any more with it, the orb was torn from his hands and flew through the air into Vader's hand.<br>Without saying another word, Vader opened a portal with the Orb.  
>Wesker's team dashed towards him to try to get the Instrument before its user left them here, but he created a portal beneath them and they fell through it. Thinking fast, and unwilling to let Vader escape with the Orb, Shen threw a knife, which hit the orb perfectly. With another burst of green energy, it split into two pieces. A collection of portals opened over the various surfaces just as Lupin's group arrived, followed by Woody, Buzz, Kernor, Peter, Jack, Dante, Stitch, Bigby, Micro-ice, Rei and Shinji.<br>"We need to get out of here before this whole place collapses", shouted Woody over the sound of the whole labyrinth coming apart

"Not just this building, there's nothing beyond the walls", said Stitch. "It's a pocket timeline, created just to house the Instrument. Now the Instrument isn't here, there's nothing keeping it around. Where is it, anyway?"  
>"It broke in two", said Tobias. Only now had any attention been drawn to him and the others.<br>"YOU!" shouted Tigress as she and Po tried to attack Shen, only held back by Jigen and Dante.  
>"What do you mean it broke?" asked Stitch. Shen handed him the half-orb. "Oh, don't worry", he said. "It looks like it's supposed to do that. Now let's go!"<br>Shen, Kurt and Tobias fled through one of the portals, followed by Bigby, Trafalgar and Rainbow Dash just moments before a large section of the roof fell, blocking that portal entirely.  
>Shrugging, Stitch leapt through a different portal, followed by Mickey, Woody, Buzz, Peter, Jack, Dante, Deadpool, Lupin, Jigen, Po and Tigress.<br>Kernor, meanwhile, began climbing through a portal on the ceiling.  
>"Aren't we going with them?" asked Shinji.<br>Kernor shook her head. "No, I think we can trust them with any Instruments they find. If we go somewhere else, we'll be twice as likely to find one of the other Instruments".  
>The others decided to take her word for it and left through her portal, just before the entire labyrinth collapsed, never to be seen again.<p>

*****

Wesker dropped what was left of Carnage into a jar of one of his recently developed serums while Lotso and the Master drove the mobile laboratory out of London. The serum was designed to speed up the regrowth of not only the symbiote, but its host as well. The symbiote may have suffered incredible damage, but it was still more or less alive. Alive enough, at least, to survive. To recover.

And there was only one thing on the symbiotic creature's mind right now.

Kill the blue alien.

Of course, until it recovered, it had no chance of this, so Carnage had to rely on Wesker and his other allies. And Wesker already had one of them in place.  
>Wesker picked up a mobile phone.<br>"Mr. Krueger, it's time to begin".

*****

Seven figures stood on a cliff overlooking a valley in the pitch-black night. In this valley stood only one building; a large factory. No-one could tell just by looking that it was a weapons factory.  
>"Is this Cobra's weapons factory?" asked one of the group, a blond teenage boy wearing a black mask and a red outfit.<br>"It's actually Baron Dante's", said another teenage boy. This one was dressed much more plainly, had dark hair and wore glasses. "But since they're allied now, I guess it doesn't make much odds".  
>"Hey, what's that over there?" asked a girl with catlike ears in a hooded coat that hid her face, leaving only her eyes and her mouth visible.<br>She pointed to what appeared to be a portal of some kind dropping four humans (or humanoids), a unicorn and a dragon further down the slope.  
>The alarms at the factory were raised.<br>"Well, that saves us having to arrange a distraction", said the leader in an accent most people would identify (incorrectly) as French. A small white dog followed after him as he and his group descended the hill. "I only hope those people can make it out of here in one piece!"

**And with that, our first arc is officially over! Hope you all enjoyed  
>it :)<strong>

**Next chapter will officially kick off the second arc, where the heroes  
>will be trying to retrieve the second Instrument, the Sword of<br>Timelines, from a new villain team, debuting next chapter. And we'll  
>also meet a few more of the heroic teams while we're at it. See you<br>again then!**


	11. The Factory and the cave

The huge cave was quiet as the young woman descended the staircase that lead into its depths. She wore pale baggy trousers and a small purple breastplate, and her black hair was tied in a way that resembled a pair of horns.  
>When she reached the bottom of the staircase, she looked around the cave. It was hard to see much in the dark, the only source of light being from the burning torches along the staircase, but one thing was immediately clear.<p>

This cave was massive.

The staircase led down to a small balcony-like slab of rock overlooking a a pit too deep to see the bottom. The cave walls were out of sight too, and the ceiling could only just be seen.  
>But for all its size, another feature immediately overtook its size on the woman's priority list; its overwhelming emptiness.<p>

Or so she thought.

"You are sending message to meet here?" echoed a voice. She looked up to see a small green-skinned creature sitting on a higher ledge. He wore a red and gold cloak and large round glasses, but what caught her eye most was his huge grin as wide as his face.

"No, I highly doubt she's the one who sent the message", said another voice. A blond man wearing a gold mask that covered his upper face emerged from behind a rocky outcrop, followed by a blonde woman in a long purple dress and a purple hat with extensions of some kind that stretched all the way to her feet. It took the black-haired girl a few moments to realise that the blonde woman wasn't human - she appeared  
>to be some kind of doll or puppet.<br>"No, I believe all three of us were chosen for our skills by another party".

"You're absolutely correct", said another voice. Once again, a being emerged from the darkness. This one was a small blue and white creature. The three invited here didn't fail to notice he was walking along a bridge of some kind where there had once been empty space.  
>"Who are all you people?" demanded the black-haired girl.<br>"Straight to the point, I like that", said the blue and white creature. "I can tell that you're just what we were looking for. Very well, I am Metus, a humble Agori formerly of the Ice Tribe".  
>"None of those words mean anything to me", she replied, before kicking through a thick stalagmite. "Try again"<br>"I've been commissioned to gather some associates to gather the Instruments of Time", said Metus. "Mr. Fawful, Miss Han, Mr. Clover, you are the ones I chose. Think about it. With the Instruments of Time at our command, we could control time itself, kill off all those we seek revenge against".  
>"I'm interested", said "Mr. Clover". "One question. Commissioned by whom?"<br>A pair of glowing eyes opened in the darkness as a colossal creature reared its head. The creature was so huge it almost reached the ceiling of the cave, and from the looks of things it must have been standing on the floor below.  
>At the same time, an enormous dragon landed on the ledge beside the four smaller beings. The front of his body glowed like volcanic rock through cracks in his stony hide.<br>"Allow me to introduce my masters", said Metus. "Lord Deathwing and Lady Biollante"

*****

Seven figures stood on a cliff overlooking a valley in the pitch-black night. In this valley stood only one building; a large factory. No-one could tell just by looking that it was a weapons factory.  
>"Is this Cobra's weapons factory?" asked one of the group, a blond teenage boy wearing a black mask and a red outfit. His name was Dashiel Parr, better known as Dash. The others had heard he came from a family of superheroes, and it was easy to guess what his power was.<br>"It's actually Baron Dante's", said another teenage boy. This was Klaus Baudelaire, the group's academic. He was dressed much more plainly, had dark hair and wore glasses. "But since they're allied now, I guess it doesn't make much odds".  
>"Hey, what's that over there?" asked a girl with catlike ears in a hooded coat that hid her face, leaving only her eyes and her mouth visible. Her name was Taokaka, and she was a member of the Kaka Tribe, a race of catlike humanoids.<br>She pointed to what appeared to be a portal of some kind dropping four humans (or humanoids), a unicorn and a dragon further down the slope. The alarms at the factory were raised.

"Well, that saves us having to arrange a distraction", said the leader in an accent most people would identify (incorrectly) as French. His name was Tintin, and he was a reporter. A small white dog followed after him as he and his group descended the hill. "I only hope those people can make it out of here in one piece!"

Micro-Ice looked up from where the portal had dropped them. A lot had happened in the last hour or so. First they had been attacked by that strange brown creature and met that crazy regenerating guy, Deadpool. Then he'd been being hunted down by a strange killer clown, escaping only when Kernor had offered to stay behind to hold the clown back (normally he'd object, but since she regenerated he knew she'd be fine). Then the Cybermen had attacked them and they had to fight off about a dozen of them. Then Kernor had come back along with a sheriff and a spaceman and led them to the rift, then the whole place had been coming down and they had been forced to escape through a portal...  
>And now they were surrounded by strange creatures. Some of them were dressed as pirates, babies or Conquistadors, others had horns and wielded pitchforks. They had managed to surround the six newcomers from the portal fairly quickly.<br>Micro-ice whipped up a whirlwind around himself and the others just as the pitchfork-wielding creatures started bombarded them with fireballs and lightning.

"They seem to be fine", said another member of Tintin's group, a voluptuous humanoid skunk known as Zig-Zag.  
>"Even so, we should probably wrap this up quickly", said an older man at the back of the group wearing red-tinted glasses, known only as The Preacher.<br>"Right", said Tintin. "Namah, can you get up to that window with your Ether Tendrils?"  
>A purple-skinned humanoid creature in a black coat, raised one hand and long thin tentacles shot from her fingertips up to the window ledge. She grabbed Klaus's hand and retracted the tendrils, pulling the two to the second-storey window.<br>Just as they had gotten out of sight, a group of armed guards in masks surrounded the others.  
>Before the guards could speak or attack, Dash knocked their weapons out of their hands Many of them tried to attack him in hand to hand combat, but he dodged their attacks easily and knocked two of them to the ground before one of them pinned him to the ground and the others managed to get round him. Taokaka blocked their attacks with her large gloved hands before revealing retractable claws and taking a swipe at<br>the guard holding Dash up. The guard let go of Dash with one hand to dodge the attack, allowing the speedster just enough time to break free. The guards never stood a chance after that, as Dash was able move fast enough to hit them from every angle at once. Within seconds they were all knocked unconscious.

Tintin looked across at the others; the unicorn and the dragon and their teammates. After they had regained their composure, they seemed easily able to fight off the costumed creatures he knew to be Dantinis, minions of Baron Dante.  
>"They seem to be pretty good fighters", said Taokaka, also watching as Kernor defeated the last of the Dantini guards. "Maybe they could help us fight against Cobra and the others?"<br>"Maybe", said Tintin, as Klaus and Namah returned.  
>"We got the Baron's new prototype weapons", said Namah. "And we also took an irreplaceable piece of their generator. They won't be making any weapons for a while"<br>"But while we were in there we found out about something else", said Klaus.  
>"What?" asked Zig-zag.<br>"First we need to get out of here", said Klaus.  
>Tintin nodded and lead the group back out of the valley, followed by the group who had fought the Dantinis<br>"Who are you people?" asked Shinji after the two groups made it to the grassy plains above the valley.  
>"We're..." began Tintin, but before he could say anything, a golden light appeared in the sky. Both groups looked up to the sky to see a golden object falling to Earth.<br>"The second Instrument of Time", said Klaus.

Samus, Snake, Spawn and Johnny Blaze (no longer in his Ghost Rider form) watched the golden object fall to the Earth from the plains where the Ghost Rider had caught up to the ice cream van.

"Any idea what that is?" asked Snake, eyes fixed on where the golden glow had landed, a few miles away.  
>"No, but..." began Samus, but she stopped when she saw what was happening.<p>

Buildings were sprining up around it. They were unclear from this distance, even with the technology in Samus' visor, but they could tell they were all different colours and sizes.

"Let's go", said Spawn.

*****

Elsewhere, another group saw the fall of the golden meteor and the unusual impact it was having on the surrounding environment as a large red and blue truck pulled upwith a view of the plains where the impact occurred.  
>A motorbike pulled up alongside the truck and the rider, a young man with incredibly spiky blond hair wearing a one-sleeved black outfit, dismounted the bike as three beings got out of the cab of the truck.<p>

The first was a man in a white and red hooded outfit. He smiled as he looked out at the sprawl of buildings of every design imaginable as it continued to grow, though not as fast as it once had.  
>"There's no mistaking it", he said with a faint Italian accent. "A true Instrument of Time at last".<br>"Finally", said the second figure as he got out of the truck. He was a red and grey mechanical-looking being with small jets on his shoulders and legs. A red mask covered his face, leaving only a pair of glowing red eyes visible. On his back were a pair of broad silver swords, an unusual firearm and a medium-sized round shield with three blades.  
>"Optimus, you should really take a look at this".<br>"I can see in vehicle mode too, Tahu Nuva", said a voice which seemed to come from the truck itself. "But I may need a better look".  
>As the last figure, a being much like Tahu only white in colour with black armour and carrying a large cannon-like firearm and a triple- bladed lance on his back, got out of the truck, it transformed, unfolding into a huge blue and red robot.<br>"We have our destination", said Optimus Prime. "Let's roll ou..."  
>His words stopped when a shadow covered all five of them.<br>"What in the name of the Great Spirit is that thing?" asked the black and white being, before all five of them were engulfed in a beam of yellow energy. 


	12. Clash of Colossi

_**I've decided to post my latest Psychic Jinjuuriki and Instruments of Time chapters at the same time, as a kind of double feature (for anyone who reads both). Enjoy!**_

The beam faded to reveal the five warriors unharmed, encased in a glowing red dome of energy.  
>"Thank you, Tahu", said Optimus, as Tahu deactivated the shield. The plantlike collosus before them went on the attack again, swinging an enormous tentacle at the group. Tahu drew the swords from his back while a large battleaxe unfolded from Optimus' arm, but the black and white being beat them both to it, blasting the tentacle back with a beam from a triple-bladed lance. The monster tried to lunge at them again, but it found itself dragged back away from them by a huge three-fingered metal hand. Biollante turned her head slightly to see another robotic being, this one around her own size.<br>"TARGET NEUTRALISED" boomed the voice of the metal behemoth.

"Good work, Omega Supreme", said Optimus.  
>"My turn!" said Tahu, leaping into the air at the plant monster, boosted by his jets.<br>"Watch out!" shouted Optimus, as an enormous black dragon swooped down towards Tahu. The spiky-haired man pulled out a sword which unfolded from his bike and leapt to Optimus's hand to allow the Autobot leader to throw him towards the dragon, hurtling through the air at great  
>speed.<br>"We'll take care of this", said a voice from the dragon's back, as the dragon dodged just low enough to dodge the warrior.  
>"Cloud, watch out!" shouted Tahu as a blond-haired man grabbed the swordsman's leg as he slowed down, before throwing him the other direction. Four figures leapt off the dragon after him. Tahu turned his jets downwards to dive after them, vaguely remembering seeing one of Cloud's attackers before.<br>Juri was the first to reach him, landing on his chest before spinning them round so he was above her and kicking him higher into the air, towards Relius and his puppet. Cloud managed to block their attacks with his sword as they both flew at him simultaneously.  
>Juri landed about fifty metres from where Optimus and the monochrome being stood. She tool a step forward, then dodged to the side just in time to dodge a metal blade thrust right where her heart had been moments before. She looked round to see the hooded man, short metal blades protruding from the sleeves of his coat.<p>

Relius said nothing as he and his puppet moved to either side of Cloud and attacked as one. Cloud was unable to block both at once, but thankfully it turned out he didn't have to as Tahu swooped down beside him. Tahu blocked the puppeteer's attack while Cloud sliced through the puppet just moments before all of them reached the ground at last.

Meanwhile, Optimus and Takanuva shot at the dragon, Takanuva with his Power Lance, Optimus with a Neutron Assault Rifle that unfolded from his arm. But Deathwing was too fast, and dodged nearly all the shots fired at him.  
>Only one shot hit him, catching his wing and sending him plummeting towards the earth.<br>"We got him!" said Takanuva.  
>"No" said Optimus. "Something's wrong here..."<br>Moment before hitting the ground, Deathwing flipped back round and blasted Omega Supreme with a molten projectile. The titanic Autobot stumbled back, releasing Biollante from his grip. Biollante took this chance to ensnare Omega Supreme with her fanged tendrils.  
>Optimus and Takanuva ran to help their large ally, but another being landed between them and the clash of collossi.<br>"Your feeble efforts to help your large friend are now fruitless!" said Fawful, wearing an unusual hat with jets and a laughing mouth attached. "I eat up your chances like a cake of scrumptiousness!"  
>"I'll help Omega", said Optimus. "You should be able to handle this guy".<br>Takanuva nodded and fired a blast of light at Fawful, while Optimus transformed into vehicle mode and drove on towards Omega Supreme and Biollante.  
>As the huge Autobot struggled against Biollante and Deathwing, he charged a beam in one hand. Seeing this, Biollante wrapped another vine around his arm and pulled the arm to the side, causing Omega to fire directly towards where Tahu and Cloud had been fighting Juri, Metus and Relius for a moment (luckily Tahu was able to protect himself and Cloud with his mask power) before he managed to pull his arm back towards Biollante, cutting into the plantlike monster's side a little and severing one of her main tendrils before the beam died away.<br>The severed tendril leapt at Optimus, who transformed, using the momentum gathered from his vehicle mode speed to leap on top of it and off it again to strike at Deathwing with his axe. The mighty dragon batted the Autobot leader aside with one clawed hand, but not before Optimus left a glowing gash in his rocky hide. The dragon was about to blast him with fire when suddenly what appeared to be electricity spread across the ground and rocky spikes shot up from the ground. Deathwing was forced into the air again.

"They have more allies", snarled Deathwing. "We have no time to waste on fighting them. Let us go to the Instrument now!"  
>Juri ran up one of the spikes and leapt off it to land on Deathwing's back while Biollante's vines deposited the others on her "shoulders" before leaping off the cliff.<br>"We can't let them reach the Instrument first!" cried Optimus. "Roll out!" 

From a higher outcrop, two teenage boys watched from above.  
>"We probably should have left them to their fight", said one, a boy wearing sunglasses carrying a broken katana.<br>"They looked like they needed help", said the other. He had long blond hair tied in a ponytail and wore a long red coat. "Besides, what would America say if he heard we had left them to die?"  
>"You have a point, bro", said the other boy. "Come on, we've got to meet back up with Holmes and the others".<p>

"Well this is... different", said Tintin.  
>The buildings had formed into a large town, complete with road signs, (even though it didn't have any visible roads. And reason for the buildings being different colours and shapes was now apparent to them. They were all from different parts of the world and different time periods. There were feudal Japanese pagodas sandwiched between ancient Egyptian dwellings and modern houses.<p>

And it wasn't just the buildings that were mismatched. The people were from various times and places too. And the weirdest thing of all was that they all seemed to be used to the others, acting as if there was nothing unusual. Victorian gentlemen passed Roman soldiers and men and woman in modern shirts and ties without batting an eyelid.  
>"In any case, let's split up for now", said Kernor. "We'll find the Instrument quicker that way".<br>"Even so, we should keep in touch with each other", said Tintin, handing out earpieces. "If anyone sees anything unusual or runs into trouble, make sure we all hear about it".

Little did they know that once again, they were being watched.  
>"Do you think they mean to steal the Sword?" said a man in a white martial arts outfit and red headband as the group split into three and went on down three different roads.<br>"Perhaps", said another, a small round dark blue creature wearing a mask resembling a knight's helmet and a cape that billowed in the wind. "We should keep an eye on them just in case".  
>"Agreed", said a humanoid in red and white armour.<p>

_**Today's teams were brought to you by Mata Nui, Krocken, kame43 and OurLordDisco. Unfortunately this will probably be my last chapter before I start university, during which my updates will probably be slowed to around one or two a month. I'll post new chapters when I can, and I appreciate any reviews you may have of this chapter as always :)**_

_**I recently realised I had no other ideas for Heroes of Darkness, so I'm putting it up for adoption. Feel free to take it on if you like, but PM me first**_


	13. A warning

After about an hour of searching, Shinji, Rei, Klaus and Namah found themselves no closer to finding the fallen Instrument.  
>"How hard can it be to find the centre of a city?" asked Namah wearily.<br>"Also, why haven't we heard anything from the others?" asked Klaus. He was about to sit down at a bench for a much-needed rest when he noticed something. Written on his arm in marker pen was a message (in his own handwriting, though he had no memory of writing it). It was a little hard to read due to the fact it stretched almost the whole way around his arm, but when he did, he was in for a shock.

_They have taken this city. They have captured the others. Get out before they get you too, and there may still be a chance to save your friends.  
><em>  
>"We need to get out of this city", said Klaus.<p>

Dash, Taokaka and Micro-ice lay unconscious on the ground as the unfamiliar men surrounded the group. Kernor was the only one still conscious, but she was fighting a losing battle against the tranquilizers. She reached for her ear, attempting to communicate with the others, but it was no use.  
>"It seems we underestimated you", said a voice as two figures came to the front of the group. The speaker appeared to be a small white dog wearing round glasses, while his accomplice reminded Kernor a little of Deadpool, only this man's outfit was black with red eyes and a white mask.<br>"Take them away".  
>As the men carried away the unconscious group, the dog noticed something in one of Micro-Ice's pockets, taking it and examining it.<p>

"Blood samples and an injection gun, interesting", observed the dog. "Where did you get this I wonder?".

"Mr. Kirrlov, extract blood samples from each of them and give them to me, then take them back to headquarters. The rest of you, go with him and see that no-one else gets their hands on them. I have plans for these four", ordered Dogbert. As an enormous man wearing a long coat and a purple t-shirt began collecting the samples, Dogbert spoke again. "Mr. Gibson, come with me. We have an Instrument to claim".  
>"You won't lay a finger on it!", shouted another voice from nowhere.<br>Before the group had any idea what was going on, most of Dogbert's men were knocked unconscious. Only Dogbert, Wesley Gibson and four others were left standing.  
>In front of them stood a being resembling a human in futuristic red and white armour which left only his face and a long blond ponytail visible. He was also only the height and proportions of a child, though he gave the impression of being at least in his teens.<br>Dogbert's eyebrows were raised, but that was as far as his shock seemed to go.  
>"Take him as well", ordered Dogbert. Dogbert's remaining underlings shot the newcomer with no less than seventeen tranquilising shots, but they had no effect on him.<br>"Those won't work on me", said the armoured figure. "I'm not like you".  
>"Angel, Oleg, take him out", ordered Dogbert, as a man in a purple hooded top stepped forward while the large man stood up from Dash's unconscious bod, having fininshed collecting the blood samples, and joined the hooded man.<br>"Sending in more muscle, are you?" said the armoured figure, raising his hand. "Rekkouha!"  
>As he punched the ground, a pillar of rainbow-coloured energy shot down to the ground, knocking the two men off their feet.<br>"He's too strong", said Dogbert to his remaining henchmen. "Hold them off until reinforcements arrive".  
>"We have bigger problems", chuckled Wesley Gibson. "Quite literally".<br>"What do you..." began Dogbert, before Gibson grabbed him and leapt back just in time to dodge an enormous blast of flame. His conscious henchmen managed to get out of the way as well, dragging a few of their friends with them, while the armoured stranger pulled Kernor's group to safety.  
>"Who... are you?" said Kernor.<br>"My name is Zero", said the stranger. "I'm one of the guardians of the Golden Sword of Timelines. I'm a friend"  
>Kernor nodded before losing consciousness. Zero looked up at the source of the flame to see an enormous black dragon land on a pagoda.<p>

"I WILL BURN THIS CITY TO THE GROUND!" bellowed Deathwing.


	14. Vampires, Dragons and Wizards

"I WILL BURN THIS CITY TO THE GROUND!" bellowed Deathwing, before taking to the sky again, burning down a row of mismatched houses as he flew

"That's not a good sign", said Teilight Sparkle

"A friend of yours?" Zig-Zag asked Spike.  
>"While you're burning this place down, I'll go and get the Instrument", said a voice from the dragon's back, before Juri leapt off Deathwing towards the group below.<br>"Shoryuken!" shouted a voice, as Juri was hit by a powerful uppercut in mid-air. Juri only just managed to land on her feet as her attacker landed opposite her, between her and Tintin's group. He was a well-built man dressed in white martial arts gear and a red headband.

"You again?" said Juri, recognising the man in front of her.  
>"I won't let you take the Golden Sword!" said the man.<br>"Like you could stop me!" said Juri.  
>Tintin and the others ran on as the two began to fight.<br>"Anything from the others?" asked Tintin as they ran.  
>"Nothing", said the Preacher.<br>A roar from above shook the ground as the great black dragon flew in pursuit of those on the ground, blasting the the road behind them with his fiery breath.  
>Just as the flames were drawing near, a police car skidded round a corner to stop in front of them, opening its door.<br>"Get in if you want to live", said the driver.  
>Tintin, Zig-Zag and the Preacher piled in before realising there wasn't room for all of them.<br>"We'll be fine", said Twilight Sparkle, creating a forcefield around herself and Spike. Before Tintin had the chance to protest, the door was pulled shut and the car drove on.  
>"Leave them", said a voice behind the three passengers, making Tintin jump slightly. "There are more pressing matters.<br>Behind them was a small round dark blue creature wearing a knight helmet mask and a cape carrying a gold sword.  
>"Is that the Golden Sword that martial artist guy and the woman from the dragon were talking about?" asked Zig-Zag.<br>"No, this is my own sword, Galaxia", said the round creature. "But I am one of the Golden Sword's four guardians. And from the sounds of things, someone has already gotten to the real thing.

Saruman the White strode into the temple at the centre of the city. Dogbert's plan to go in himself with Gibson and the street gang he had taken over was a good one. From the sound of his communications, the  
>city's guardians had been distracted by the dog's quite deliberate spectacle.<br>"Going somewhere?" said a voice from behind the wizard. Saruman didn't look round. If he had, he would have seen a man with orange hair and a long scar running down his left cheek.  
>"I see the Instrument's Guardians had the good sense to leave one among their number in the temple itself", said Saruman, raising his staff. The scarred man drew a sword as one of the swords lining the walls dislodged itself and flew into the wizard's free hand.<p>

"Especially one such as yourself, Larten Crepsley. It is a pity that you should face a wizard in battle".  
>Saruman gestured forward with his staff and Crepsley was sent flying back. But, no sooner had Saruman turned to walk on, he was right behind him again. Saruman turned inhumanly fast and blocked the attack just in time with the sword.<br>"Your speed is impressive", said Saruman, before he burst into flames. The beard and robes burned away, replaced with what appeared to be a clown's costume. The flames flickered away across his body but continued to blaze around his head as the face of the white wizard burned away to reveal a face covered in makeup and a nightmarish grin. Suddenly, Larten found himself thrown against the wall as the real  
>Saruman stepped from the shadows. Another sword dislodged itself from<br>the wall and flew straight towards him, stabbing him in the stomach  
>and pinning him to the wall.<br>"We have wasted enough time on this vampire", said Saruman. "Mr. Kane,  
>come with me. We have an Instrument to collect".<br>"If you take the Instrument, the whole town will collapse", said  
>Larten as he tried to pull the sword from his stomach. "Everyone in it<br>will fade from history".  
>"They will not be mourned, as none shall remember them", said Saruman<br>as he walked on into the next room and pulled the golden sword from  
>the stone block it was set into. Immediately the block sank into the<br>ground. The stone bricks of the temple began moving in to fill the gap  
>before sinking into the ground themselves. The vampire could do nothing but struggle as the white wizard and the demonic clown took the Golden Sword of Timelines, the second Instrument of Time, to an ice-cream van waiting outside.<br>Then a flaming motorcycle ridden by a leather-clad being with a flaming skull for a head rammed into the back of the van.

The skull-headed being swung a flaming chain around the sword's hilt and pulled it from Larten's stomach before racing after the ice-cream van. Racing after it came a police car, a red and blue truck and a second motorbike ridden by a blond spiky-haired man with Zero riding on the back.

_Gather the other visitors and hold the city together as long as  
>possible,<em> said Larten telepathically to Ryu as he flitted towards the  
>second bike. He managed to catch up close enough for Zero to grab his<br>hand and pull him onto the back.

_I'll bring back the sword._

**I have a question for guest reader Ian Greene: When you request Simon  
>and Nia, from when in the series do you want them? Before or after the<br>Anti-Spiral? PM me rather than answering in a review, I don't want to  
>spoil anything for anyone who hasn't watched Gurren Lagann.<strong>


	15. Battle on the road

"Hey Larten, you're in pretty bad shape", said Zero, noticing the wound in the vampire's stomach as the motorbike chased after the ice cream van. "Sure you wouldn't rather sit this one out?"  
>Larten shook his head. "I can always have Sora heal me when we meet up. Besides, there's no telling what they could do with the Sword. You'll need all the help you can get"<br>"Sora?" said Cloud. "The kid with the Keyblade?"  
>"That's right", said Zero. "You know him?"<br>Cloud was about to answer before the ice-cream van they were pursuing suddenly swerved round a corner. The four pursuing vehicles did the same. No -one amongst the pursuers saw Dogbert and Wesley Gibson leap  
>into the open side as it did so.<br>"Your distraction was successful", said Saruman to the two now in the back. "We have acquired the Sword of Timelines".  
>"Good thing you won't have it for long", said a voice. In a flash of light, an enormous key appeared at Wesley's throat. Its wielder, a boy of around fifteen in a black outfit with yellow straps, must have been hiding in the van before they got there.<br>The assassin chuckled. "You've got guts, kid", he said. "Challenging me with an oversized key? You can't be serious"  
>"Don't underestimate him", said Saruman. "This boy wields the Keyblade. A powerful weapon with the ability to open any door and immense magical potential".<br>The vehicle swerved again and Sora lost his balance. Wesley took this opportunity to kick him back, knocking the teenager through the doors of the back of the van. Fortunately Optimus was right behind them, and Tahu was able to open the door and pull the Keyblade wielder into the  
>truck.<br>"The boy's free of the vehicle now, Optimus", said the Autobot leader's other passenger, Ezio, as the five vehicles left the outskirts of the bizarre town. "You can attack now".  
>Optimus slowed down to put some distance between them before firing a rocket from a launcher that unfolded from the side of the vehicle, aimed straight at the ice-cream van. A brief flash of gold spread across the van before the missile hit it and engulfed it in a fiery explosion.<br>"Looks like we weren't needed here after all", said Tintin from inside the police car.  
>"No", said Metaknight, as the two motorbikes swerved around the flames "Something's wrong..."<br>An enormous metal creature burst from the flames, made of fire and metal, gears and wheels. It was clearly much larger than the vehicle it had come from.  
>"Where did that think come from?" said Sora in surprise.<p>

"They must have used the sword's power to create a new vehicle from  
>the wreckage of the old one", said Larten.<br>"How do you use wreckage to build something bigger than what the wreckage came from?!" asked Zero.  
>"The sword has powers most wielders cannot use or fathom", replied the vampire. "It can be used to create things using any materials to hand, reconstructing them as the wielder sees fit. It's said that those able to use its full power can multiply those materials by "borrowing" them from the past. The energy to use this power is limited, gathered over<br>time".  
>A huge pair of spiked blades suddenly unfolded from the sides of the vehicle, trapping the police car between them and slowly crushing it.<br>"Everyone jump out!" shouted Samus, before blasting the roof off with her arm-mounted cannon. Samus and Snake leapt out, while Metaknight grabbed Tintin, Zig-Zag and the Preacher and managed to glide out of the way before the entire vehicle crumpled behind them.  
>Suddenly, the metal monstrosity slowed considerably, as if it had hit something almost as big as itself and was grinding it along in front of it.<br>"You look like Decepticon", said a rumbling voice from the front of Saruman's creation. What looked to be a metal Tyrannosaurus climbed into view before taking a bite out of the side of the vehicle. "Grimlock HATE Decepticons!"  
>"Good work Grimlock!" said Optimus, before another gold flash spread across the vehicle.<br>At the front, Zero and Larten could see a huge grinning upside-down face forming. Its mouth opened and a smaller vehicle shot out, before the face folded over the top of the vehicle to fit onto back, leering out at those behind it. The flames on the vehicle with the face grew into a roaring inferno and a pair of metallic arms folded out of the sides and slammed into the ground, grinding the larger vehicle to a halt. Optimus transformed into Robot mode, throwing Ezio, Tahu and Sora as he did, Tahu catching the others and looking back at Optimus.

"We'll handle this thing", said Optimus, blocking the monstrous  
>flaming machine's arm with his axe. "Go on and get the sword".<br>Tahu nodded and flew on after Ghost Rider and Cloud's bikes. Optimus turned back to the huge metal creation that currently housed Sweet Tooth. It tried to grab Grimlock off its back with its long, thin arms, but the dinosaurian Autobot grabbed one of its wrists in his mouth and bit into it. The metal twisted and warped before the hand was torn free. The other hand managed to grab and throw Grimlock off, while the now-handless arm swung at Optimus, flames flying from where the hand once was. The Autobot leader ducked under the attack before "drawing" a magma frag launcher and shooting the monstrousity in the shoulder.  
>Three more shots, aimed at the wheel, eye and mouth, followed shortly after, before Optimus detonated them all, and the machine was engulfed in a fiery explosion.<br>The machine burst from the smoke, now transformed into a semi-humanoid form, with legs instead of wheels. It had no seperate head; rather, its body was merely composed of a giant head. Its right eye had been smashed, whilst fire blazed behind the other one, and the lower half of its previous face was gone, replaced with an assortment of mismatched sharp metal pieces. It loomed over the two Autobots, standing about two and a half times the height of even Grimlock. Grimlock transformed into robot mode, drawing his energon sword and shield, while Optimus drew his axe.  
>The metal monster was the first to strike, firing rockets from the tip of the handless arm. Grimlock blocked the missiles with his shield while Optimus ran towards the fire-belching machine, his axe cleaving through its legs with ease. As it toppled forward toward Grimlock, he slashed through its body with his sword. It fell to the ground, motionless at last.<br>"Grimlock glad that thing finally dead", said Grimlock, before noticing something in the wreckage.

"Hey Optimus, what is that?" he asked.  
>Optimus looked where Grimlock was looking to see an unconscious naked human girl.<br>Who is she? thought Optimus as he picked the girl up, covering her in a spare robe Ezio had left in his cab. And what was she doing in that thing?  
>As Optimus pondered these questions before making his way after the others, neither he nor Grimlock noticed the machine's hand twitch.<p>

Ryu looked over the city from the top of its tallest building. Through the combined efforts of Spawn, Omega Supreme, Takanuva and Twilight Sparkle, Biollante and Deathwing had been defeated and restrained in a pair of aircraft hangars, but the town was still a wreck, and it wouldn't be long before it was wiped away by the removal of the power that held it together.  
>"Worrying about the city?" said a voice behind Ryu. A man in a white and blue outfit with a white hooded cloak and skull mask walked up to where Ryu was standing. This was Taskmaster, the sixth guardian. His photographic reflexes had allowed him to teach the other guardians a variety of techniques. "Don't worry about it. They'll bring it back".<br>"I hope so", replied Ryu.  
>"By the way, I saw something unusual in a temple on the way here", he said. "A carving that weren't there before".<br>"A carving?" asked Ryu. "What of?"  
>"You remember Deadpool, don't you?" said Taskmaster. "Old rival of mine, talks a lot. Uses swords and guns and regenerates a lot?"<p>

"Yeah, what about him?" asked Ryu.  
>"It's weird, but he was there. In the carving. That Dante guy was too", replied Taskmaster. "They were with a cowboy and a tall thin man and a kind of alien thing. And there was a panda and a tiger too".<br>"Now you're just being silly", laughed Ryu. "I almost believed you when it was just Dante and Deadpool".  
>"I'm dead serious", said Taskmaster. "Don't believe me, come see it yourself".<p> 


	16. The Power of the Sword of Timelines

Instruments of Time 16  
>Even while carrying Ezio and Sora, Tahu's jets allowed him to catch up to Cloud and the others in a few minutes. Sora immediately noticed the considerable wound in the vampire's stomach.<br>"Larten? What happened to you?" he asked worriedly.  
>"It was... Saruman", struggled Larten. "The White Wizar...".<br>It was then that Larten slumped to the side, collapsing from blood loss. Luckily Zero managed to grab him just in time to stop him falling off the bike.  
>The reploid struggled to find words for a second. "Red... flying... reploid...thing" he began, gesturing to Tahu.<br>"It's Tahu", grumbled the Toa of Fire. "Tahu Nuva".  
>"Fine, Tahu", continued Zero. He gestured to Tahu's firearm. "Could you shoot their vehicle with that gun thing? I need it slowed down a little"<br>"It's a Nynrah Ghost Blaster", he corrected. "And I could do better than that, if you could take one of these guys off my hands"  
>It didn't take a genius to work out that a fourth people wasn't going to fit on Cloud's bike, and Ghost Rider's bike was out of the question due to the hellfire surrounding it.<br>Cloud took one of his hands off the handlebars of his bike as the sides of the bike opened up, revealing a large selection of swords, before drawing what looked to be the largest one. "Tahu, drop Sora onto my sword", said Tahu. "I might be able to swing him at the enemy".  
>"That's perfect", said Zero, jumping off the bike and onto the sword. "Tahu, drop Sora onto the bike and slow down that car".<br>Tahu nodded, dropping the teenager onto the back of the high-speed motorcycle, then raised the hand he had been carrying him with. His  
>hand burst into flames that spread across the road towards the makeshift getaway car. The wheels began to glow red-hot before they<br>began to soften and warp, slowing the vehicle down.

"Now!" shouted Zero. Cloud swung his sword, while, at the same time, Zero leapt off the blade, flying forward and landing on the roof of  
>the vehicle. He stabbed his Z-sabre throught the back of the vehicle, causing it to grind to a halt.<br>Dogbert, Wesley Gibson and Saruman emerged from their getaway vehicle looking surprisingly confident despite being greatly outnumbered, with Tahu, Zero, Ezio, Cloud, Ghost Rider, and Sora surrounding them on all sides (Sora left Larten next to Cloud's bike). Wesley was currently holding the Sword of Timelines.  
>"It appears you have all underestimated the power of the sword of Timelines", said Saruman.<br>"You've burned up most of its energy with the redesigns you made of your vehicle", said Larten, pulling himself to his feet using Cloud's bike as a support.  
>"That may be, but the sword has another power", said Saruman. "One that could be considered far greater".<br>Zero charged twoards the wizard with his sword, but Gibson parried his attack with the Instrument before slashing him in the chest.  
>Zero fell to his knees, clutching his chest. The blow had dealt him considerable damage, but that wasn't what worried him most about the<br>attack was that new memories were flooding into his head.

Memories that conflicted with those he already had.

_"Take him as well", ordered Dogbert. Dogbert's remaining underlings__shot the newcomer with no less than seventeen tranquilising shots, but__they had no effect on him.  
>"Those won't work on me", said the armoured figure. "I'm not like...".<br>His sentence was cut short as a great gash tore itself in his armour,__as if slashed by an invisible sword.  
>"Angel, Oleg, take him out", ordered Dogbert, as a man in a purple<em>_hooded top stepped forward while the large man stood up from Dash's__unconscious body, having finished collecting the blood samples, and__joined the hooded man.  
>"Sending in more muscle, are you?" said the armoured figure, raising<em>_his hand. "Rekkouha!"_

"We have bigger problems", chuckled Wesley Gibson. "Quite literally".  
>"What do you..." began Dogbert, before Gibson grabbed him and leapt<p>

_back just in time to dodge an enormous blast of flame. His conscious__henchmen managed to get out of the way as well, dragging a few of__their friends with them. Zero quickly grabbed Dash, Taokaka and Micro-Ice, but just before he could get to Kernor, the damage to his chest__acted up. He knew then that there was no time to dodge the attack, so__he threw the others to safety, before being engulfed in the dragon's__flames himself._

When the flames died away, Kernor crawled over to what was left of his

_body. His right arm and both legs had been completely incinerated, and__what was left of his upper body and left arm was blackened and warped__by the flames.  
>"Who... are you?" said Kernor.<br>"My name is... Zero", said the Reploid, struggling to get the words__out. "I was... one... of the guardians of the Golden Sword of...__Timelines. Remem..."  
>Kernor gasped as Zero's head fell back, never to finish that sentence.<em>

Zero tried to piece together what was real and what was the new timeline the sword had created while the others all did the same. As Sora cast Cure on him, Larten remembered getting close to Cloud's bike, but falling just an arm's reach short, doing battle with Biollante, and never seeing the battle on the road at all. Cloud  
>remembered riding into this battle alone. Zero watched in horror as his hand began to fade away before his eyes.<p>

But Saruman was displeased. He did not see the memory he wished to.

"Why was our vehicle still stopped after Zero did not cause it to?" asked the wizard, taking the sword from the Killer's hand. "The wielder of the Sword of Timelines can choose when any injuries it causes occur along the personal timeline of the victim. Clearly your attack failed to kill this being or injure it enough to prevent it tailing us".  
>The wizard slashed at Zero again with the sword, but it was blocked by a much larger sword.<br>"Look again at your vehicle", said Cloud. Dogbert glanced at the vehicle to see the Z-sabre stabbed through the front was fading just as Zero was, but another weapon was fading into existance to replace it.

A Keyblade.

"Sora would have done it if Zero hadn't", said Cloud. "And if he hadn't done it, I would have. And if I didn't, Ezio would have. You were doomed to fail from the minute you showed up".  
>Sora put a hand on Larten's shoulder. "Give me strength!" he said, before a flash of light obscured his body, accompanied by a sound of shattering glass.<br>When he became visible again, his attire had changed. Now it was entirely black and dark red in colour. Larten had also vanished from view, leaving some of those present looking around for him.  
>He dashed toward Saruman at superhuman speed, the wizard blocking his Keyblade with the golden sword. Sora felt a gun pressed to his head for a moment courtesy of Wesley Gibson, but the handgun was suddenly sliced in two by a sword that rivalled Cloud's in width. Gibson leapt back, pulling another two pistols out of his pockets, but realised only moments too late that he had put himself within the range of Ghost Rider's chain...<br>The chain ricocheted off a spherical energy shield that flickered as if whatever was creating it was badly in need of repair.

"I'm not really much of a fighter", said Dogbert, holding an unusual half-mask object. "But I have built up quite a collection of useful artefacts from throughout the ages. "Such as this. I bought it from a trader in the future who found it in this very desert"  
>He tossed the mask to the ground, and Tahu could do nothing but stare in horror as he realised what it was. It was broken and rusted almost beyond recognition, but Tahu knew the mask all too well.<p>

Kanohi Hau Nuva. Nuva Mask of Shielding. The very mask that was now on Tahu's face.

Wesley Gibson took this chance to put a gun to Tahu's head, but it was torn from his grip as a white-hooded figure stepped between them. Saruman threw the Sword of Timelines just in time for Gibson to block Ezio's wrist blades, while the wzard himself used his magic to pull another sword from the getaway vehicle. He was having trouble finding a chance to attack back as Sora attacked so fast he was left blocking most of the time. As well as the Keyblade, which the boy could swing much faster than he should have been able to swing a weapon that size, he seemed to have clawed gloves or maybe actual claws in this form, as well as the odd bit of magic.  
>Meanwhile Ezio fought against Wesley Gibson. Ezio managed to pull any guns Gibson drew out of the other assassin's hands before he had a chance to shoot him with them and parried the Sword of Timelines with his wrist blades, but Gibson was able to block Ezio's hidden blades and gun in the same way.<br>Ezio noticed Zero nodding to him and understood. He he slashed again at Gibson, who misjudged his parry as he hadn't expected Ezio to aim for his hand.  
>He dropped the sword...<br>At phenominal speed, the barely visible Zero dahsed forward, grabbing the sword and plunging it into Saruman's back.  
>Saruman tried to say something, but he collapsed before he could get another word out. Not only did his body begin to fade, but the golden sword did the same.<br>"What did you do?" asked Sora.  
>"I stabbed Saruman before he got to the sword", said Zero as he faded completely from view. "Now everything will go back to before he stole it..."<br>"I don't think so", said Dogbert, pulling the fading sword out of his fallen comrade before stabbing him again. The sword stopped fading, but Saruman's body faded ever faster. "If he died before we even set out, someone else will take his place...".  
>Tahu walked slowly towards Dogbert. The sand under his feet turned solid and translucent as he walked.<br>"You'd kill your own ally to gain the power HE took for you?!" said Tahu, reaching for his swords. He barely noticed as part of the rusted mask was crushed under one foot. "You are beyond contemptable, no better than the servants of Teridax!"  
>He stopped and activated his mask just in time to block a barage of gunfire as a masked figure walked out of thin air, the air rippling behind him as he did. Following him came a small army of Uruk-hai and human Cobra troops.<br>Cobra Commander looked across at Saruman's fading body. "What happened to him?"  
>"Our enemies dispatched him before I could stop them", said Dogbert. He didn't elaborate much more; after all, Cobra Commander would soon remember a completely different story. The Uruk-hai roared in anger on hearing this, drawing various weapons, while the humans waited for the Cobra Commander's signal. When he gave it, they opened fire. Cloud managed to plant his sword in the ground and shelter behind it, while Tahu used his mask to protect Ezio and himself and Sora deflected the bullets with his keyblade. Even so, a bullet hit him in the shoulder, causing him to drop the keyblade. He would have been finished off, but Ghost Rider stepped between him and the firing squad and took all the shots aimed at the keyblade wielder as he slowly walked towards the Cobra units.<p>

A green flash of light suddenly hit the sword, sending it flying from Dogbert's hands. Zero and Saruman suddenly stopped fading and came back into full view, their wounds healing. Dogbert looked to the source of the shots and saw an four-armed figure in a long coat and wide-brimmed hat silhoetted against the sun. The Ghost Rider was getting closer to them now.  
>"Back through the rift", ordered Cobra Commander to his men as one of them ran out and took the sword. "Take Saruman and Gibson with you".<br>The group fled through the rift, vanishing into thin air one by one. As the man holding the sword and Dogbert were about to make their escape, the stranger shot another blast of green, this one at the rift itself. A green ripple spread across the invisible barrier, and Dogbert and the Cobra soldier ran straight past the point they should have been warped to the future and into the space beyond it.

Dogbert looked up to see the soldier swiftly knocked unconscious by Sora, and Ghost Rider walking over to him.

"Any last words?" he asked, picking Dogbert up in one hand, but Tahu put a hand on his shoulder.  
>"You would defend him?" said Ghost Rider, surprised. "After what he did?"<br>"It's against the code of a Toa to kill another intelligent being, no matter how despicable", said Tahu. "And I can't sit by and watch another kill him either".  
>"Besides, we'll need him for questioning", said Larten. It seemed that bow he had seperated from Sora, the healing of his wound had gotten a lot faster. "We'll need to know what his organisation is capable of".<br>"What about him?", asked Cloud, gesturing to the mystery gunman.

Ryu and Taskmaster entered the temple, Ryu bowing to its elderly maintainer before entering. Sure enough, there were Deadpool and Dante, along with a cowboy, a tall thin man illustrated with round, empty eyes, a panda, a tiger and several other people.

"How do you think they got there?" asked Ryu.  
>"Dunno, maybe they were pulled there by an Instrument of Time like us?" suggested Taskmaster. He took a step back and the stone under his foot sank a little.<br>"Uh oh", he said.  
>"What happened?" asked Ryu.<br>"I think I just triggered a trap", replied Taskmaster, before noticing something.

The carvings were moving.

Most of the figures ran off the left of right hand sides of the tablet, while the image of Deadpool drew a pistol which sank slowly out of the image, followed by its face. It fired a few shots at the two guardians, who narrowly dodged them, before it was itself shot down from the side.

"Over here, run!" said an unfamiliar voice, as the images of Dante and the cowboy started to sink out of the walls around them. They obeyed, following the voice. Two figures, one very tall and thin, the other normally proportioned with two swords on his back, were there, but they didn't see them properly in the dim light.  
>"Why don't we just fight them? They don't look so tough" said Taskmaster.<p>

"They're tough enough, all right, and they don't die when you shoot them" said a second voice. This one they did recognise.  
>They descended a flight of stairs down to a tomb-like room with nine sarcophagi, one of which looked to be opened, each with a blue glow coming from the eyes and mouths. Taskmaster cast an eye over the names on the plaques above them.<br>_Here lies Arsene Lupin III  
>Here lies Daisuke Jigen<br>Here lies Dante Sparda  
>Here lies Buzz Lightyear<br>Here lies Sheriff Woodrow Pride  
>Here lies Experiment 626<br>Here lies Po, Dragon Warrior  
>Here lies Tigress of the Furious Five<br>Here lies Mickey Mouse_  
>The man with the swords pulled an ornate lever and the blue lights went out. "Alright guys, wakey wakey", he said.<br>Ryu and Taskmaster had no doubt now as to who this was. "Deadpool?"  
>The "cowboy" from the illustration climbed out of his sarcophagus groggily. "When are we?" he asked.<br>Another man climbed out of the sarcophagus entitled Arsene Lupin III "Where's the Time Gun?"  
>The sheriff felt around on top of his head. "And what happened to my hat?"<p>

The mystery gunman took off the brown Stetson, revealing a blue alien face. "Experiment 626, at your service"

_**Well, that's the second arc finished. Hope you all enjoyed the "Golden**__**Sword" arc. I also hope that wasn't TOO cliffhangerry for you all.**__**Reviews are, as always, appreciated. :)**_


	17. The sword, the gun and the gauntlet

_**I'll admit, I'm enjoying writing Instruments of Time so much, I've**__**unwittingly sent my other stories on a sort of holiday. They'll be**__**back when I have ideas for them, but right now I'm cutting back to**__**only writing Instruments of Time and the Psychic Jinjuuriki. Maybe**__**I'll post an extra chapter of Marvel vs Jump and Remnants of Galaxia**__**so their readers don't yell at me again for not posting any new**__**chapters, but they'll come with a message informing the readers that**__**they'll not get updated again for a while. Anyway, enough of that. On**__**with the story!**_

"Are you sure those wall carvings won't leave the temple?" asked Ryu as Jack and Lupin led the way along a secret passage.

"Absolutely", said Mickey. "The magic that they're made up of can only transmit through a particular type of stone. There's no way they could move into the walls of neighbouring buildings unless they developed a way of converting the stone.  
>"They seemed to be able to come out of the wall", said Taskmaster.<br>"Yes, but they can't completely detach from it", said Mickey.  
>"What, so we leave a temple full of deadly wall carvings for others to stumble upon?" asked Ryu as Jack climbed a flight of stairs before opening a hatch above them. They followed him out into the street above. "What about the old temple caretaker? Does he know about them?"<br>Mickey gave a laugh. "Oh he knows about them all right".  
>Ryu saw a convoy of vehicles coming and smiled. "Looks like Larten and the others are back".<br>The truck, two motorbikes and what appeared to be a robotic Tyrannosaurus stopped in front of them and their occupants got out, amongst them an unfamiliar girl in a white cloak and a small, white, bespectacled, tied-up, dog. Shortly after, the truck transformed into his robot mode.  
>"So I take it you got the sword back?" said Taskmaster. Sora grinned and held up the golden sword. "Good. Stab it into the ground, quick".<br>"Is that an Instrument of Time?" asked Jigen, glancing at the sword as Zero stabbed it into the ground. The buildings stopped their slow movement to the centre of the town.  
>"Could be", said Lupin. "It's obvious this town of many eras didn't make itself"<br>Stitch walked up to the sword and pointed the ornate gun at it. "What are you doing?" asked Zero.  
>"Listen, you don't want to be stuck here guarding that thing forever, do you?" asked the experiment. "I mean it's not like this town was ever meant to exist in the fist place, right?"<br>"You don't mean to..." began Larten.  
>"Relax, it won't be like when it was stolen", said Stitch. "If that had been allowed to continue the whole town and everyone in it would be wiped from history. But if we use another Instrument to stabilise it, we can send all the residents of Timetown safely back to where and when they belong".<br>"That's all well and good as an idea, but we don't have another Instrument to use", said Taskmaster, then he glanced at the gun. "That's not an Instrument, is it?"  
>"Half of one actually, but that's not what I think Stitch intends to use", said Woody, taking his hat back from the alien's head. "Jack, hand me the Hand of Fate".<br>"The what?" said nearly everyone present (Larten noted that Optimus and his group seemed unsurprised).  
>Jack handed Stitch what looked to be a silver gauntlet with gold engravings. The alien put it on one of his four hands and grabbed the sword with it, still pointing the gun at it with another, before pulling it from the ground.<br>"If you're going to be sending back all the buildings and people, could you leave that aircraft hangar over there?" asked Ryu. "There are some enemies in there I'd rather not release".  
>Optimus took a look at the hangar in question. "Deathwing and Biollante?"<br>"How did you know?" said Ryu.  
>"I've only seen four things big enough to need that big a building to imprison them, and one of them probably helped you capture them".<br>"I don't know about that", said Po. "Ever heard of Tai Lung? They had a prison bigger than that to hold him, and he's about my size".  
>"Now that you mention it, we should probably call the others there too", said Tintin.<br>"I can do that with the sword while I'm sending the buildings back", said Stitch. "If you can draw me a picture of them or something".  
>"Before you do, was that grey-skinned girl and her little group here?" asked Deadpool. "What did you call her, Kerni, Kerna..."<br>"Kernor, maybe?" said a voice behind Deadpool. The mercenary spun round to see the girl behind him, accompanied by Micro-ice.

"Speak of the devil..." said Dante.  
>"Alright, you don't have to draw her group, I remember what they look like", said Stitch. "But anyone else..."<br>Tintin handed Stitch a sketch of Klaus, Namah, Taokaka and Dash, while Samus handed him one of Spawn and Ezio handed over a picture of Takanuva

"Ok, here we go", said Stitch, swinging the sword. A gale-like wind descended on the city, and the buildings were reduced to points of light, which Stitch directed with the sword. Before long, the group was standing in open desert outside the hangar.  
>"Shall we step inside?" said Mickey.<p>

Inside, they found Takanuva, Spawn, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Taokaka and Dash, but no sign of Klaus, Namah, Shinji or Rei. Restrained at the back of the hangar were Biollante and Deathwing.

"We should split up into smaller groups as soon as possible after we're done here", said Woody.  
>"Why's that?" asked Tahu. "Together, we are strong. Divided, beings like those imprisoned here could overpower us with ease".<br>"True, but there are enemies that could maybe do that even when we're together", replied the Sheriff. "And I'd rather not draw attention to ourselves".  
>"There ARE almost fifty people here, not counting captives", said Tintin.<br>"But what could be so strong as to wipe us all out in one?" asked Takanuva.  
>"What about people like that Vader guy?" said Dante. "He seemed incredibly strong. If he's got a whole team as strong as him..."<br>"Plus brains beat raw strength most of the time", said Stitch. "Take Lupin for example. Power-wise, he's useless compared to people like, say, the robot dinosaur over there. But give him time to prepare and the right resources and I'm pretty sure he could incapacitate him pretty easily".  
>"Grimlock not get beaten by tiny thief man!" bellowed the Autobot.<br>"Granted, brawn with brains behind it is the best of both worlds and..."  
>"What's your point already?" interrupted Larten.<br>"The enemy is after what we have", said Buzz. "They have the surprise advantage. If we split up into four seperate units and stay in constant contact, we can inform each other of attacks and possible Instrument locations in four points in time at once, while in the process quartering the chance of all our Instruments being taken and draw less attention to ourselves".  
>"Interesting conclusion", said Snake. "I'll agree with that one. Plus, if one of our bases is infiltrated, we won't all be in danger. One question though. How does this lower the chances of them taking the Instruments if they know who has them from the start?"<br>"I'll need some help, but I think I can prepare some replica Instruments" said Stitch. "I'll shuffle them around so even we don't know who has the real ones".  
>"Interesting, you've even planned against traitors or disguised spies", said Snake.<br>"Any questions?" asked Tintin. No-one spoke for a while. Then Micro-Ice raised a hand.  
>"How did you get that cool gauntlet thing?" he asked<p>

"That's a long story", began Stitch...

_**I know nothing much happens this chapter. It's mostly scene-setting for the next arc**_


	18. Let me tell you a story

Lupin, Woody and their teams fled through the portal, finding themselves on the streets of an unfamiliar town.  
>"Where the hell are we?" asked Deadpool.<br>"At least we're out of the labyrinth", said Woody, as the portal closed behind them. The sheriff studied the streets, noticing a lot of unfamiliar kinds of being walking the street alongside the humans. The timezone was also hard to make out.

"We need to be careful if Shen is searching for the Instruments too" said Tigress.  
>"The peacock?" said Buzz. "Is he an enemy of yours?"<br>"But he was working with those other two who saved us from Lotso and his Cybermen", said Mickey. "Maybe he's turned over a new leaf?"  
>"Or maybe he has tricked them into working for him, or they're like him and only saved us for their own gain", said Tigress. "I think that's the more likely reason".<br>"They went through another portal", said Woody. "I'm pretty sure Shen's nowhere near here".  
>"Maybe we should ask around, see if anyone's seen anything unusual?" asked Peter. His current form was that of a young man in his early twenties.<br>"You go do that", said Deadpool. "I'm gonna go explore the place!"  
>"I wonder if they have any technology shtores, or at least weapon shops", said Stitch as he and Dante wandered off in roughly the same direction as the mercenary.<br>"You hardly need a weapon, do you?" said Dante. "Not that having a good variety of weapons with you isn't awesome..."  
>"Mostly for this", he said, holding up the half of the Orb of Continua that Tobias gave him. "I plan to build it into something, since the half we have is pretty useless on its own..."<p>

"I'm just going to go and look for somewhere to get a bite to eat..." said Po.  
>Woody, Buzz, Lupin, Jigen, Dante, Tigress, Peter, Mickey and Jack headed into a nearby inn as their accomplices went their separate ways for the time being. They were going to ask if anyone had seen anything unusual, but Woody noticed the bounty board first. There were many illustrations of varying creatures on them, but they all had one thing in common.<br>An emblem, somewhere on their body, resembling a black heart with a red cross inside it.  
>It was the two posters closest to the front, however, that caught the Sheriff's eye most.<br>The first depicted a pale, hunched-over, humanoid figure wearing only a loincloth and a dark-haired man in a suit with a chain around his body. The label under it read "WANTED: BALDORIAS S. FAGHINI AND GOLLUM", with a message under it that read "Extremely dangerous.  
>Contact Sherlock Holmes at the east gate with any relevant information".<p>

The second depicted seven figures. First, there was a brown-haired girl accompanied by a white feline with purple tufts at the end of its ears and wearing what appeared to be green gloves. Beside her was a humanoid creature which appeared to have no arms or legs. Its purple body looked to be hovering above its feet, with a pair of gloved hands hovering on either side. There was also a rodent-like creature wearing heavy armour and what appeared to be some form of jet pack, a red, yellow and black robot with large, formidible-looking silver claws, and an anthropomorphic raccoon in blue clothes that made him resemble a thief or ninja and holding a gold hooklike weapon. Finally, at the front was a teenage girl with red hair holding a key-like weapon.  
>"WANTED: DANGEROUS CRIMINALS. REPORT TO AUTHORITIES ON SIGHT"<p>

\\\\\

"Kairi!?" said Sora in surprise. "You saw her?"  
>"Would you let me finish the story?" said Woody.<p>

"Actually, there are a couple of other things that need done, why don't we do those while Jack tells the others what happened", said Stitch. "We already know it, what with being there and all..."

"What sort of things do you have in mind?" asked Stitch.

"You and Buzz can interrogate Dogbert, while I find out just what she's capable of", said Stitch, with a nod to the girl Optimus found in the wreckage of Sweet Tooth's mecha. "Mickey can make sure the monsters are properly restrained and Dante and Peter can go look for the missing people, what were their names..."  
>"Wh-what are you going to do with me?" asked the girl timidly.<p>

"I'm surprised you can speak English, what with being born a few hours ago", said Stitch. "Dogbert had a DNA injection gun on him, some of the blood sample vials are smashed, and you smell just like the smashed ones. I'm guessing the Sword's energy provided the energy and time needed for a regenerative blood sample to regenerate into a whole body, but it mixed with the other samples first. But as for the results..."  
>Woody saw the look on her face. "Don't worry, he doesn't bite"<br>"That's a lie and you know it", said Stitch, then turned back to the girl. "But I wouldn't eat you. You probably regenerate, and I've seen plenty of reason not to eat them. Met a goblin called Grom once, he ate some regenerative troll flesh once and the results weren't pretty..."  
>Stitch, Mickey, Woody, Buzz, Peter and Dante set off as Jack picked up where Woody and Stitch left off.<p>

*****

"I must say, I'm disappointed in you all, especially you, Saruman the White", said Baron Dante. The group was meeting for the first time since Dogbert was captured. "Losing to this Key-wielding child"

"I was sent on this expedition for my stealth, magic and power over others, not as a mere brute fighter. There are many amongst us better suited than I to those roles", said the wizard. "Though I am far from powerless. The boy was simply too fast for me to have a chance to use my magical powers".  
>"Did he have anyone with him?" asked a voice from the corner of the room. Saruman, Cobra Commander, Wesley Gibson and Sweet Tooth looked to the source of the voice to see six unfamiliar beings, led by a man with long black hair in a leather outfit.<br>"Who are our guests?" asked Saruman. "This is Razor and his group", said the Baron.  
>"We created an alliance with them while you and Dogbert were off failing to get the Sword of Timelines and getting killed", said Johan Liebert, not looking at anyone when he said it.<br>Saruman got to his feet, but Razor spoke before the wizard had a chance. "My question, Saruman. Was there anyone assisting him?"  
>"There was a person named Larten Crepsley", said Saruman. "He was unusually fast, and the Keybearer magically fused himself with the man. Crepsley must be the source of the boy's speed".<p>

"Larten Crepsley?" said a man with purple skin amongst Razor's group. "No wonder you lost so terribly.

"What do you know of this man, Murlough?" asked a man in bulky armour and a cape.  
>"I know many things about him, and if you want I will handle him myself", said Murlough. "You take care of this "Zero" person, he's an old friend of yours, isn't he,<br>Sigma?"

"That is acceptable", said Cobra Commander. "Team Razor will trail this team, claim the Instruments and kill any who oppose us. Saruman, you claim it was magic that allowed the boy to take on Crepsley's attributes?".  
>"Powerful magic", said Saruman. "Possibly an enchantment on his clothing".<br>"And you claim to be the strongest wizard of your time", said Cobra Commander. "Could you replicate it?"  
>"The being wearing this item would need to have some magical capabilities to begin with", said Saruman. "But it should be possible".<br>"You can rest assured", said Razor. "We won't leave any of them alive".


	19. Lurking Shadows

_**I'd like to thank everyone for their submissions of teams. And I will **__**include every team so far submitted. But now, I'm afraid, it is time **__**to close the character team submissions. If anyone were to suggest any **__**more characters, I could not fit them in the story without cutting **__**back on appearances of existing characters or absurdly lengthening the **__**story. So far, you have submitted around 30 teams with characters **__**spanning 90 series across all forms of media. I think that's enough **__**for this story. Once again, thanks to everyone who submitted a team.**_

Anyway, on with the story!

"Well that was a waste of time", said Peter, as the group exited the building. They had found no information worth mentioning aside from the bounty board and that they were in the city of Rabanastre in somewhere called Dalmasca.  
>"At least we know where we are", said Woody.<br>"Yeah, now we've just got to find out where that is", said Jigen. "And when. There are so many strange creatures here, are they aliens or natives?"  
>Suddenly, screams and cries were heard from somewhere else in the city.<p>

"That sounds fairly close", said Buzz.  
>"Closer than you'd think", said Lupin, looking at the ground in front of them as what they had previously thought to be shadows started raising out of the ground.<br>"It's those things from the board", said Woody, recognising them as more creatures, these ones pointed yellow creatures with propellors on their backs, closed in around them.  
>"Heartless", said Jack, as larger ones resembling large red, yellow and lavender flying towers with small round heads set into them near the base. "But why so many?"<br>As the first Shadow leapt at the group, Buzz shot it out of the sky with his laser. Tigress leapt into the air, landing on top of one of the Bolt Towers, before leaping off it as the others attempted to shoot her with some kind of laser. This not only succeeded in having the others destroy one of them for her, but she also managed to catch the base of another one in the process.  
>Up so high, she could see far down the streets and over a row of houses, and she saw the seven beings from the poster fighting the Heartless as well. The robot was shooting them down with machine guns that seemed to have replaced the claws, the catlike creature was leaping from one to another and destroying them with its claws, the being with the floating hands and body was punching Heartless a fair distance away, spinning his hand to build up momentum before punching, letting his hand fly far from his body before it was mysteriously pulled back. But it was the key-wielding girl who seemed to be destroying the greatest number.<br>Her attention was suddenly pulled back to the battle at hand, and she kicked away two Aero Boosters before swinging herself onto the side of the Bolt Tower she was held up by and leaping off, hitting another with a two-handed palm thrust as she did. Buzz and Peter were now flying around, battling against the flying Heartless, while Woody, Jack and Mickey fought off the last of the land-based Heartless. When there were only around six left, however, a huge metal ball on a long chain crashed down on top of them. Rocket boosters on the surface of the ball dislodged it from the sizeable hole it created in the street, and it flew back the way it had came  
>"You managed to fight off a lot of Heartless", said a voice. Woody and the others looked to the source of the voice as the sphere returned to his hand. "But let's see how powerful you really are".<p>

_The man from the poster, thought Woody. Baldorias S. Faghini_

The man swung the weapon, the ball flying towards the three on the ground. Woody leapt back, narrowly avoiding the giant flail, Jack leapt over it and Mickey put up a magical barrier. The sorceror wasn't prepared for the ball changing direction suddenly and avoiding the barrier entirely, so he only just dodged the metal sphere hurtling towards him, and the rockets that flared up to change its direction afterwards scorched his robes a little. Mickey focused his magical energy into the centre of the sphere as Baldor swung it upwards at Jack. As he did so, he muttered an incantation under his breath, before gesturing forward. The sphere shook a little, but no damage was done. Nevertheless, the slight shaking was enough to allow Jack to slip around it, and its wielder pulled it back to his hand.  
>"Any chance of destroying that weapon?" asked Woody.<br>"I tried, but it survived a blast from within that would have blown apart an iron sphere three times as thick. It's made of some kind of incredibly strong metal".  
>Baldor noticed the lack of Heartless and the armoured soldiers closing in around him as he listened to something only he could hear, yet Woody saw no earpiece.<br>"Understood. I'll retreat for now", he said, before turning to Woody.

"I'll retreat for now, but we will meet again. And you won't be so fortunate next time".  
>And with that, he activated the jets on the flail and jetted onto a rooftop before running away.<br>"Well, that was eventful", said Jack.  
>"What should we do now?" asked Tigress as she, Buzz and Peter landed next to the others.<br>"Also, where are Lupin and Jigen?" asked Peter.  
>Woody looked around to see that they were nowhere to be seen.<br>"We'll talk to this Holmes person first", he said. "Then we'll go look for them, if they don't turn up by then".  
>"People of Rabanastre!" announced a voice heard the city. "I bring glad tidings. The generals of the Heartless armies have been captured!"<br>The six assorted beings made their way to the enormous crowd of people gathered in front of the palace in the city's centre. In handcuffs of varying sizes stood the six people Tigress saw fighting the Heartless, the six people from the wanted poster. Each was accompanied on either side by one of the armoured soldiers, the two guarding the being with the floating hands holding his cuffs which, for obvious reasons, went around his hands themselves rather than his wrists. A man in a suit  
>and tie, long coat, hat and dark glasses also stood with them.<p>

"That can't be right, I saw them fighting the Heartless at the same time we were!" said Tigress to Woody and the others as the crowd cheered. "They could hardly be their generals. This leader is making a terrible mistake".  
>"The five lesser generals will be taken to Nalbina Dungeons for a life imprisonment. However, due to a special ability she possesses to unlock any lock, along with her far greater crimes, their ringleader shall be sentenced to execution, which will take place three days from now".<br>"We've got to tell them they have the wrong people!" said Peter.  
>"I doubt they'd let us just walk up to the palace and demand to speak to the ones in charge", said Woody. "Besides, something tells me they won't even look into the possibility someone else is behind all this".<br>"Maybe this Sherlock Holmes person knows something about all this", said Tigress. "We have information on the flail-user, maybe we can exchange information".  
>"Right. We'll..."<p>

/

Jack's recounting of the story was interrupted by a knock on the hangar's huge door. Zero slid it open to see Dante, Peter, Klaus, Namah, Shinji and Rei.  
>"We found them", said Dante<p>

In the back of the hangar, Mickey finished setting up magical restraints on Biollante and Deathwing, as well as enchanting the physical chains already holding them down.

"I swear", said Deathwing, strangely calm for once. "When I am freed – and make no mistake, mortal, I shall be free very soon - you and your companions shall be the first to feel my wrath".

"Heard that before", said Mickey. "I'd give up now, if I were you. Those restraints will hold for a thousand years unless unbound from outside".  
>"ALERT: PRISONER IS REGISTERED CAPABLE OF SURVIVING ONE THOUSAND YEARS" said Omega Supreme, who had been holding down the two beasts while Mickey restrained them.<br>"Yes, but we will be long gone from here by then", said Mickey, then realised the enormous Autobot's concern: even if they left and the restraints lasted one thousand years as predicted, Biollante and Deathwing could last until then, travel to an area where time ran in reverse to where they were and attack them immediately, maybe even while their past selves were still imprisoned...  
>"ALERT: SIX BEINGS DETECTED ENTERING PROXIMITY OF CURRENT LOCATION" warned Omega Supreme.<br>"Probably just Dante and Peter back with those missing kids", said Mickey.  
>"NEGATIVE. DANTE, PETER, SHINJI, REI, KLAUS AND NAMAH RETURNED BEFORE THE NEW SIGNALS APPEARED"<br>"Then we've got to warn the others", said Mickey.


	20. Striking Shadows

"We know about Cobra Commander and Saruman", said Woody. "So why don't you just tell us about any of your other allies and who exactly you are before I call in the Ghost Rider..."  
>"I'm just a grifter from Planet X", said Dogbert. "Albeit a very intelligent one. I came to earth because most humans are dim-witted and it's fun to mess with them. I only allied with the others because they had wider plans that were just too good to pass up".<br>"Planet X?" said Woody skeptically, ignoring the comment on human intelligence for now.  
>"It's a planet not far from Earth", said Dogbert. "The inhabitants closely resemble your Earth creatures, mostly cats and mice, though dogs like me are fairly common too".<br>"Right", said Woody. "Buzz, this "Planet X" isn't a real planet, is it?"  
>"Actually, it is", said Buzz.<br>"Really?" said Woody.  
>Buzz unplugged a device from his wrist and plugged it into a projector. A detailed star map came up, on which Buzz pointed to a particular star.<br>"Gamma Quadrant. Sector 2. It orbits the yellow star, F-32..."  
>"I get it already, it's a real place" said Woody. "But if that's the case, why would people like Saruman and Cobra Commander need someone like you? And whose idea was your plan to steal the Sword of Timelines?"<br>"That would be Saruman. The initial plan was to take the Sword by invading the town with the armies my allies have gathered, but Saruman suggested we take a more... subtle approach. As for my usefulness, only a handful of beings have ever managed to outwit me. Only one has ever done so twice".  
>"Who else is there in your group?" asked Buzz.<br>"Apart from Saruman, Cobra Commander and myself, we have the demonic clown Sweet Tooth, who, you may have heard, took part in the actual theft of the sword alongside Saruman. We also have Wesley Gibson, a highly skilled assassin with the power to curve his shots. We also have the leader of a street gang known as the Saints and a plant-controlling woman known as Poison Ivy. Those are all the members of our Board of Overlords, but the others coups have hired another to replace me upon my capture. We also have access to Cobra's troops and Saruman's Uruk-hai. Other than that, we have nothing. We don't have any secret weapons or such hidden up our slee...  
>"Omega said he sensed six other beings approaching the hangar", said Mickey as he burst into the room.<br>"I'll go investigate, you keep an eye on him", said Buzz, gesturing to Dogbert.  
>As Mickey and Buzz left the room, neither of them noticed someone slip past them.<br>Shinji Ikari entered the largest room, where Deathwing and Biollante were held by Mickey's enchantments. He activated a device on his wrist, which began to glow with a green light.

"ALERT! ENEMY UNITS WILL BE ABLE TO SENSE YOUR BEACON FROM OTHER NEARBY TIME FRAGMENTS! DISENGAGE! REPEAT: DISEN..."  
>The autobot was unable to finish his sentence before a portal opened in the room and a man walked through it, a beam of blue energy flying from his gauntlet to Omega Supreme and somehow rendering him immobile.<br>The man had orange hair that swept upwards like flames. He was dressed in a black and white outfit with a white cape and emblazoned with a letter S on the front. He also wore a black eye-mask similar to the one Dash wore.  
>"Make this as quick as possible, Grodd", said the man, the energy beam in a constant "on" state. "My Zero Point Energy is fine on small targets, but I can't hold something as big as him for long, even with my recent enhancements".<br>A second figure, a blue-skinned, red-haired humanoid female with wings and a tail, followed the masked man through the portal.  
>"My name is Gorilla Grodd", said Shinji, in a voice not his own. "I believe we have some goals in common, and could be of great help to each other in achieving them. We could free you if you would be willing to cooperate with us".<br>"If you dare to suggest that we work under you..." began Biollante, but Shinji-Grodd cut her off.  
>"Not under. We would be allies working towards the same goal".<br>"This goal being?" asked the collosal plant-beast.  
>"The complete extermination or domination of the human race throughout all time", said Shinji-Grodd.<br>"And how do you plan to do that?" asked Deathwing.  
>"First, I plan to gather the Instruments of Time", said Shinji-Grodd.<br>"Then I shall remake the universe as one where all humans are ruled over by an empire ruled by beings such as us"  
>"As the humans would say, get in line", said Biollante. "Countless groups are after them. What makes you think you have any hope of getting them?"<br>"With your help, we could take the two Instruments those fools who imprisoned you have gathered, along with the half of the Orb of Continua inside their "Time Gun". With those in our possession, it would be a simple matter to take the others".  
>"Very well", said Deathwing. "We shall form an alliance. But be warned, if your plans conflict with ours, we won't hesitate to destroy you".<br>"A wise decision", said Shinji-Grodd. "Demona, dispell these restraints".

"This is the place", said Peter, as the group gathered in front of one of thmany buildings along the east gate. Jack knocked on the door. He was the only one who didn't look surprised when it was answered by a skeleton.  
>"Mr... Holmes?" asked Woody.<br>"He's in the back", said the skeleton. "My name is Skulduggery Pleasant. What brings you to speak with him?"  
>"We have information about the man on the poster", said Peter.<br>"And we have reason to believe the people taken by the authorities as "Heartless Commanders" aren't what they appear", added Woody.  
>Skulduggery nodded. "Come in then".<p>

Jack paused the story as Buzz and Mickey walked through the room before looking outside the great metal doors. There was no immediate sign of the six people Omega had detected, only the vast expanse of wasteland stretching on to the horizon

"They're not directly out the front. Jack, the story can wait for now. We've got company".  
>"Tell me one thing first", said Sora. "Kairi wasn't executed... was she?"<br>Jack was unable to answer before an enormous axe smashed through the wall of the hangar and six beings walked through.  
>"Murlough?!" said Larten in surprise, looking at one amongst the group, a purple-skinned man.<br>"Another family reunion, right, brother?" said Dante, looking at a silver-haired man in blue with a katana.  
>"Sigma", snarled Zero.<br>But they all were able to say no more before two simultaneous roars near-deafened them all.

Biollante and Deathwing had broken free


	21. Battle in the Hangar

_**Apologies to anyone who tried to review the previous chapter, but**__**couldn't due to the removal of the Rules chapter (due to having**__**already reviewed a chapter of the same number). You can include it in**__**a review for this chapter if you like. Also, don't forget to check out**__**the poll (more on that at the end of the chapter)**_

"Alright, we've established the parameters of your healing factor and checked for any other abilities directly inherited from the DNA", said Stitch as he read the readings from "Testing to see if you have any other abilities will be near-impossible without knowing what to predict, so..."  
>He stopped when he heard a crash from the front of the building, followed by another, louder crash and roaring from the back. The shaking caused by this caused the Time gun to fall off the table and onto the floor. The girl reached down pick it up.<br>"Wait! We don't..." began Stitch, but he was too late. The gun started vibrating in her hand before breaking in half and letting the Orb inside roll across the floor.

Wait, roll?

Stitch grabbed the half-Instrument in his hand and observed it, ignoring the building coming down around him. True enough, the Orb was now a full sphere again, the half that was missing replaced with a silver replica of some kind.

_No_, thought Stitch, _She can't have...  
><em>  
>Could she?<p>

His thoughts were interrupted as he suddenly froze, surrounded by blue energy.  
>"I'll take that", said a voice behind Stitch. The Orb was pulled from Stitch's immobile hand. "Now be a good girl and hand over the other two", said the voice's owner as he walked round Stitch, never letting his hand point away from the alien lest he escape the Zero Point Energy's grip.<p>

"Are... are you a friend?" she asked.  
>"Um... yeah!" said the man in black and white. Stitch rolled his eyes; it looked like she believed him. "These people are friends of mine. They..."<br>He did't get to finish his sentence as a red and black blur shot out of nowhere and hit him in the face. Though he dropped the orb and released Stitch when he was hit, he got to his feet in a flash and trapped both Stitch and what turned out to be Dash with the Zero Point Energy before they could make another move, but he couldn't grab the Instruments with both his hands busy. The girl grabbed the Instruments and ran out into the entrance room.  
>"Wait! Don't go! I'm your friend!" shouted the masked man.<br>She may be gullible, but she's not THAT stupid, thought Stitch.

When she got to the room, it was in chaos.

Meta Knight's sword clashed with the axe of a being that seemed to be composed mostly of fire.  
>"You fight well, being of fire", said Meta Knight. "Especially for one wielding such an ungainly weapon".<br>In a burst of flames, the axe was gone, replaced with a pair of short ninja swords, and the being dashed forward. It was certainly faster with its new armaments, but Meta Knight wasn't fazed, blocking the high-speed attack with relative ease. It was only after blocking it that he saw the follow-up kick coming, and since his sword was occupied holding back the blades, he took the attack and was sent flying back. He got to his feet quickly, just in time to block another attack from the flaming being.

"We meet again, Zero", said Sigma. "Only this time, X and Axl aren't around to help you".  
>"I won't need their help to defeat you", said Zero, drawing his sword.<p>

"But I am more powerful than I was before", said Sigma, drawing a long metal pole. At one end, a curved glowing energy blade emerged, turning the pole into a scythe.  
>"We'll see about that", said Zero, dashing forward.<p>

"So what made you work with these guys, Vergil?" asked Dante as he and his brother clashed swords for the umpteenth time this battle.  
>"Power, brother", said Vergil. "These beings know true power. You should know by now that might decides everything".<br>Dante saw another fight nearby out o the corner of his eye. Claw met claw as Larten and Murlough fought, the action taking place too fast for human eyes to follow.

"I managed to get these out, but Stitch and the super-fast boy are trapped back there by a man in a black and white outfit", said the girl in the cloak to the first person she could get to, in this case Klaus.  
>"Did he wear a white cape and an outfit with an S on the front?", asked Klaus.<br>She nodded. "And he shoots these blue beams and..."

Klaus sighed. "Syndrome", he said. "Dash told me about him".  
>An ear-splitting tearing sound was heard from overhead as Deathwing sank his claws into the metal roof high above their heads. A large chunk of the roof broke free as the dragon tore through it completely. It would have come down on top of them, but Tahu stepped forward, activating his Mask of Shielding. The piece of wreckage crumbled as it hit the shield.<br>"Optimus, I could use some help here", he said, shooting at Deathwing with his Nynrah Ghost Blaster, to little effect.

"So who exactly is this guy?" asked Sora as he and Johnny Blaze faced off against a black bipedal creature with menacing yellow eyes. "He looks like some kind of Pureblood Heartless, like a mini-Darkside or something".  
>"He's no Heartless", said Blaze. "His name is Black Heart, and he's an incredibly powerful demon. Maybe you should leave this one to me... the other me".<br>"I can take care of myself", said Sora, summoning his Keyblade as Blaze turned into Ghost Rider.

"So you're the leader of this little posse, huh", said Taskmaster as the man he was facing took off his leather coat and threw it aside. Underneath, his arms were metallic.  
>"You can call me Razor", he said. "While you're alive, that is".<br>With a manic look in his steely grey eyes, he raised a hand. Out of the palm of his hand, a katana blade emerged and he slashed at Taskmaster, who blocked the attack with his own sword. As Razor pulled his blade away, the edge turned jagged like a saw, each tooth hitting Taskmaster's sword one by one.  
>Razor swung his arm at Taskmaster's side, the entire arm turning into a huge axe as he did, only to be blocked by Taskmaster's shield. He slashed with the blade on his other hand, now back to a katana-like form. Unable to move his shield, Taskmaster blocked the attack with his sword, only for the blade to shatter in his hands.<br>_That saw-like blade... it must have been meant to put a chip in my__sword so he could break it later_, thought Taskmaster, as Razor's blade made its way towards him with no chance for him to block. He was surprised, however, when another blade blocked it, held by a familiar red and black figure.  
>"Man, your skills must be slipping or something", said Deadpool. "I mean, I thought with all those copied moves you're so proud of, you could handle Mr. Human Swiss Army Knife over here with time to spare, but..."<p>

"Enough!" shouted Razor, slashing Deadpool across the chest with a huge bladed claw that batted him aside and left four large gashes across his chest.

Suddenly, the roof crumpled and tore, vines spilling through the cracks as Biollante climbed atop the hangar, and enormous roots burst from the floor.

"Tintin! Use the Orb to summon a portal!", shouted Dante, as the roots and vines grew longer and thicker all around them. Tintin took a second to think of where to go, before thinking of a good place and summoning a portal there. "Come on everyone!" he called.  
>Dante, Lupin, Jigen, Tigress, Po, Klaus, Namah, Zig-zag and Tintin himself had made it through when a blue blast of energy from somewhere in the overgrown hangar hit Tintin in the back, wrenching the orb from his grip. The unmistakable glow of Zero Point Energy lit up the orb as it was pulled back through the portal and into Syndrome's hand.<p>

"You're not getting away from us that easily", said Syndrome, holding the orb with one hand and holding Stitch, Dash and Woody still with his Zero Point Energy in the other. No sooner had he said that, though, than he saw an orange glow out of the comer of his eye, and flew to the side just in time to dodge Omega Supreme's laser. Even so, he was forced to release his captives to do so.  
>Before he could even blink, let alone hit him with his (possibly drawn) greatest invention, Syndrome found the orb snatched from his hand by Dash. He passed it to Stitch on his way to the quickly-closing portal. Taokaka and Deadpool just managed to make it through before the portal closed, taking the gauntlet with them.<br>Stitch another portal behind himself, before Syndrome flew at him unexpectedly. Thinking fast, he stepped to the side and Syndrome flew through the portal. Stitch quickly closed it after him.  
>"Ok, forget that idea", said Stitch, tossing it to Sora.<p>

_Take me to where Kairi is_, thought Sora. A portal opened next to him. As Vergil, Sigma and Murlough were held up temporarily by Biollante's tendrils, Spawn was handling Razor for now, and Cloud and Grimlock were currently fighting Inferno, the Guardians of the Golden Sword found now to the perfect opportunity to make for the portal. Sora tossed the Orb to Optimus and took the Sword of Timelines before he too went through the portal.

"We'll need an extra-large portal", said Tahu, shielding off an attack from Vergil. "We've got to fit Omega through it after all..."  
>"Let's make our way to him and summon the portal when we get there", said Optimus. "Roll out!"<br>By now there was barely anything left of the hangar, so when Optimus cut through the vines ensnaring where it once was, he saw Omega Supreme almost immediately. Though he was badly damaged from having to fight both Biollante and Deathwing, even having one arm torn clean off, he was still putting up a brave fight.  
>As Optimus focused on summoning a portal, Deathwing rose up and released a mighty blast of flames towards him, but Tahu stepped in the way. He raised his hand and the fire stopped before it could reach them, as though it had hit an invisible barrier. The flames then rebounded, engulfing Biollante. The kaiju roared as the flames<br>scorched her body. Deathwing stopped his flame barrage, flapping his giant wings to stir up sand from the desert floor which aided the extinguishing of the flames.  
>"That's odd", said Kernor. "He didn't seem the type who would stop attacking his enemies to help a teammate..."<br>"Come on, Optimus, hurry up", said Tahu. The flames on Biollante had been extinguished, and the two monsters had turned their attentions back to Tahu, Optimus and Omega Supreme.  
>"Hold on... There!" said Optimus, a portal opening beneath Omega and dropping the three of them through it. Just before he went through the swirling gateway completely, he threw the orb. The winged blue woman flew up to grab it, but Peter beat her to it.<p>

Deathwing swooped down towards the portal, but Cloud blocked him head-on, slowing the dragon down considerably. Grimlock, now in robot mode, leapt up onto Deathwing's back and stabbed his Energon into the dragon's back.  
>"Come on!" called Micro-Ice from the edge of the diminishing portal, alongside Rei, Kernor, Twilight Sparkle, Spike and Takanuva carrying an unconscious Shinji. Since the portal was now small enough that neither Deathwing nor Biollante could fit through it, Cloud leapt in after them. Grimlock, meanwhile, pulled his sword out of Deathwing's back, leaping down onto his neck and raising the sword, intending to decapitate the beast, but he saw the yellow glow a moment too late and was blasted back by a beam from Biollante. The Dinobot leader fell through the portal while his weapon clattered against the ground.<p>

"Peter, any time now is good", said Woody, as Razor's team closed in around them. "Summon a portal and get us out of here".  
>For a moment, Peter thought he felt something crawling up his back. But it passed, and he summoned a portal behind his remaining allies. The group fled through the portal, Spawn snatching up Grimlock's huge sword before joining them.<br>"Peter, where is this?" asked Buzz as they stepped through the portal into a white-panelled corridor of some kind.  
>"I don't know", he said. "I just summoned it by instinct and..."<br>His statement was interrupted when Blackheart stepped through the portal. The rest of his team were making their way through as well.  
>"Close that portal!" shouted Buzz.<br>"Not yet", said Spawn, hurling the sword at the group.  
>To traverse the quickly-narrowing portal, Blackheart, Sigma, Inferno, Vergil, Razor and Murlough were forced into a convenient line, and the sword was able to stab through them one by one, hurling them back through the portal, which quickly closed after them.<p>

"That's them taken care of for now", said Spawn.

"Question is, where the heck are we?" said Samus.

_**Since I have four arcs/storylines (for the four groups our heroes just**__**split up into) that happen roughly simultaneously (sort of), I have a**__**poll on my profile to decide what order I write them in. Between the**__**four, all the requested teams will show up, and all four storylines will**__**be written eventually, but you may decide on the order they occur in (they will**__**be written in order of number of votes). Alternately, I could cycle**__**between storylines, alternating between chapters, but that might get**__**confusing, so it's up to you.**_


	22. Scheming

_**The poll is still on. The first chapter of the first "poll-decided order" arc will be the next chapter after this one.**_

"So, you escaped the enemy's hold?" said Baron Dante. Only he, Dogbert, Cobra Commander and Wesley Gibson were at the table; there was no sign of Johan Liebert, Sweet Tooth, Inferno or Saruman, and Razor, Sigma and Murlough were elsewhere, though Black Heart and Vergil were waiting in the corner of the room. "I trust you didn't reveal anything important..."  
>"I answered all questions put to me", said Dogbert. "But my responses were almost entirely lies. When asked who was in our group, I mentioned all the members they had already seen but lied about the last two. They think Poison Ivy and the boss of the Saints are leading members of our group. I also lied about my origin and our assets".<br>"Even so, you allowed yourself to be captured", said Cobra Commander. "I hope you have something to show for all this".  
>Dogbert rolled three vials of blood and an odd piece of circuitry.<br>"What are these?" asked Cobra Commander.  
>"Blood samples from three of our enemies and a piece of circuitry from Omega Supreme's arm", said Dogbert. "Both could be used to significantly bolster our forces. By studying this piece, we could learn how to create weapons and computers using the technology of<br>their homeworld, greatly increasing both the firepower of our henchmen and the efficiency of our IT department. The blood samples were taken from humanoids with unusual powers. If these powers are genetic, by studying the blood we may be able to bestow these powers on our henchmen".  
>"Interesting", said Cobra Commander. "We have been working on a few secret projects around here ourselves".<br>"Indeed", said Baron Dante, clicking his fingers. Six Dantinis made their way into the room.  
>Each of the Dantinis was dressed as one of Razor's group. The furthest to the left was wreathed in flames, while the one to his right was dressed in a long blue and had a katana at his side. Next there was a Dantini in high-tech armour resembling Sigma's, a leather-clad Dantini with a knife and a purple Dantini that was either wielding metal claws or literally had claws of his own. Finally, there was a black Dantini with glowing yellow eyes.<br>"What do you think?" asked the Baron.  
>"Please tell me those outfits are more than cosmetic", said Dogbert as he saw them.<br>"They are", he said. "Each one replcates the power of the being their outfits are designed off. The Razor, Inferno and Sigma Dantinis have high-tech weaponry allowing them to replicate the attacks of their namesakes, while the Black Heart and Vergil Dantinis were imbued with power by Black Heart himself".  
>"And the Murlough ones?"<br>"They're genuine", said Baron Dante. "I got a blood sample from Murlough. "There were a few... complications when they took the blood  
>in orally but a simple injection seemed to work fi...".<br>He was interrupted as Saruman entered the room, followed by Uruk-Hai carrying two bags.  
>"I have succeeded in creating the garments that were requested", he said majestically. "Three sets have been created, each with enhanced<br>natural abilities and the ability to merge with allies".  
>"Why are there only two bags?" asked Dogbert.<br>"Liebert took one of them for a "secret operation" of some kind", said Saruman. "I have been following his endeavors with the Palantir".  
>"Good", said Cobra Commander. "Now that we have the required arms, our next move shall be simple".<br>"And what move is that?" asked Dogbert.  
>"Your attempts at taking the Sword of Timelines have proven to us that we cannot overpower those who currently hold two of the Instruments of Time", said Cobra Commander. "Even with our new developments, we will need greater arms to take the Instruments. That is why I propose we gather some powerful artifacts not related to the Instruments".<br>"An interesting proposal", said Dogbert. "What artifacts do you have in mind?"  
>"Several", said Cobra Commander. "First of all, a pair of legendary swords..."<br>"...Soul Calibur and Soul Edge"

*****

Deathwing, Biollante, Syndrome and the blue-skinned winged woman, now identified to them as the gargoyle Demona, arrived back at the cave where Biollante and Deathwing first gathered their teams. Metus, Juri, Fawful and Relius were already there, along with a man in green with four long metal tentacles coming out of his back.  
>"This is Doctor Otto Octavius, he's a colleague of mine", said Grodd, descending a second staircase from the one Juri and the others had<br>gone down to get here the first time.  
>"When you said your name was Gorilla Grodd, I never expected a literal gorilla", said Relius.<br>"Regardless of form, Grodd has yet to deliver his side of the bargain", said Deathwing. "We did not get the Instruments of Time held by our enemies".  
>"Perhaps not", said Gorilla Grodd. "However, it should interest you to learn that one of the instruments they hold is a fake".<br>"FAKE?!" bellowed Deathwing. "WHY DID YOU NOT TELL ME OF THIS BEFORE?!"  
>"Because I did not know before now", said Grodd, taking a roll of paper from Octavius. "Rest assured though, I have two people in the past tracking the real one".<br>He unrolled the paper, revealing it to be a well-preserved, yet clearly very old wanted poster.  
>"Rest assured, Baldor and Gollum will find the real Instrument".<p>

*****

"So what is it you wanted to show me?" asked Albert Wesker as he and The Master walkedh along the overhead walkways in Wesker's new  
>laboratory complex. While this walkway and, indeed, most of the building were taken from Tricell Laboratories, he had found parts of<br>other science and technology companies in some areas, including an elaborate testing facility formerly owned by a company called Aperture Science.  
>"I built a machine to find the Instruments", said the Master. "It detects strong temporal disturbances and uses a psychic field to sense<br>the area surrounding their source".  
>"Did you find one of them?" asked Wesker.<br>"Oh no no no", said the Master. "Much better. We now know the locations of three of them, and the field picked up something else  
>too..."<br>They entered the room where the Master's invention was held, Carnage, now almost fully regenerated in a tube of green liquid, and Krueger were already there. This machine clearly wasn't Wesker's work; too ramshackle and chaotic. Three screens on its surface showed the same scene; a large group of people fending off a group of assailants including a dragon, an enormous plant monster and a group of six human-sized beings giving off reasonably large energy readings.  
>Wesker recognised Woody, Lupin and Kernor's teams from London. "They've gathered more instruments?"<br>"Look at the last screen", said the Master.  
>Wesker looked to the last screen to see five beings suspended in an unknown medium. A dark-skinned, armoured monster and a scorpion-like robotic entity with two propellors at the shoulders were seen on either side of a black-haired man in a blue and white spiked outfit<br>and a green-haired, blue-skinned man in white and orange armour.  
>But it was the creature behind them that most caught Wesker's attention. Though he could tell it was far behind the others, only its upper body and head were visible due to the sheer size of it. It resembled a collosal reptile of some kind, like a more upright Tyrannosaur with a smaller head. Two enormous crystals jutted from its shoulders.<br>"Greetings, Mr. Wesker", it said, even though the machine had no speakers. "My name is SpaceGodzilla. I believe we could be of use to  
>one another".<p>

_**I would like to see a few more votes on the poll, so I'll reveal one of the new teams that will be appearing in each the voted arcs.**_

_**The Tale of Stitch and Spawn will feature a hero team including Cole McGrath, John Marshton, Nathan Drake and the Dragonborn**_

_**The Tale of Lupin and Tintin will feature the return of Bigby Wolf's team**_

_**The Tale of Optimus and Kernor will feature a hero team containing Godzilla, Simon, Nia, Gamera, Ultraman and Asuka**_

_**The Tale of Larten and Holmes will contain a team composed of James Heller, Gaara of the Sand, Batman, Riku, Brom and Sirius Black**_


	23. Tale of Larten and Holmes: Chapter 1

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" screamed the systems in the castle in Rabanastre as the castle's contingent of soldiers ran through the corridors searching for whoever had broken in. Probably another petty thief. "Did you hear something?" asked one of the armoured soldiers.  
>"What sort o..." began the other, before a punch to the face sent him stumbling back. Neither of them could get a clear view of the attacker, especially in the darkness.<br>The other soldier pulled out a sword and ran at the stranger, only to be hit in the head by some kind of shuriken-like weapon. His helmet protected him from injury, but the blunt force of the explosion that followed threw him to the ground.  
>As the lights came back on dimly, the soldier on the ground got to his feet and saw his enemy. The man wore a black cape and a black mask with pointed "ears" that covered the upper part of his face. The rest of his outfit was grey and black, with an emblem resembling a bat on his chest.<br>Another unit of soldiers ran into the room, consisting of four mêlée fighters, three gun-users and a mage. As the melée soldiers ran towards him with swords and spears, the floor exploded in front of them. They looked back to see the near-invisible tripwire.  
>"He must have set this while the lights were out", said one of the soldiers.<br>"Where'd he go?" asked another, noticing both the man in black and the guard he had punched to the ground were gone.  
>"Must have run away using the explosion as a smokescreen", said the leader. "After him!"<br>As they ran down the corridor, two more bat-shaped throwing weapons flew out of nowhere and embedded themselves into the guns, jamming their firing mechanisms. As the group looked around for the man in black, he leapt out of a nearby alcove, knocking one of the gun users to the ground. He blocked a sword attack with his forearm before kicking the man back and out a window. Luckily for him, the floor below stretched out further than this one, so he didn't fall to his death.  
>Just as the man in black finished beating anther knocking unconscious the rest of his group, the remaining gunman managed to pull the bat-like shuriken from his weapon and pointed it directly to the man's head.<br>"Stupefy!" shouted a voice from the other end of the room. A blast of red light hit the soldier and knocked him to the ground.  
>"Thanks Sirius", said the man in black.<br>"You did remember to leave one of them conscious, right Batman?" Sirius asked.  
>"Yes, this guy", said Batman, gesturing the initial guard he had punched. The guard got to his feet and tried to run, perhaps to warn others of the intruders, but Sirius quickly cast another spell.<br>"Petrificus Totalus!"  
>The man froze and fell face-first onto the ground. Sirius took a bottle of a strange liquid labelled Veritaserum, removed the guard's helmet and poured it into his mouth.<br>"You shouldn't have paralysed him", said Batman. "Now we won't get any answers until he unfreezes".  
>"Best leave him with Gaara then", said Sirius. "They might try to kill him to stop the information getting out, and we'd be a lot more mobile if we didn't have to carry him around. Speaking of which..."<br>Through the smashed window stepped a boy of around fourteen with deep red hair. He wore a long red coat and an enormous gourd on his back. His blue eyes were encircled with black.  
>"I'll take care of the questioning when he awakens", said Gaara.<br>Before Sirius could ask how he knew they were looking for him, Gaara went on. "You left your communicator on".  
>Batman sighed. Neither Sirius nor Brom had gotten the hang of what Sirius called "Muggle technology" yet.<br>"As soon as he wakes up, ask him where the vault is and contact Riku and Heller to tell them".  
>"What about you?" asked Gaara.<br>"I'm going to find out what they plan on doing with it", said Batman.

*****

Sora, Taskmaster, Ryu, Meta Knight, Larten and Zero emerged from the portal into some kind of desert.  
>"Where are we?" asked Ryu.<br>"We're still in the desert", said Zero. "The portal must have only moved us in time".  
>"Then how come there's a city over there that wasn't there when we left?", said Larten.<br>"Maybe it was built after we left", said Sora.  
>"Or it was buried under the sand long before", said Zero.<br>"It could be the same place on another timeline", said Meta Knight.  
>"Wherever or whenever it is, it's bound to be better than being lost in this desert", said Taskmaster. "Let's take a look".<p>

*****

"Riku, the vault is on the third floor, right in the centre of the castle", said Gaara over the communicator. "Are you close?"  
>"I'm looking at it", said a teenage boy with long silver hair. "But until now, I didn't know it was the right one"<br>"Take the Instrument and get out of there", said Gaara. "We don't have much time".  
>"I'm on it", said, Riku, deactivating the communicator. A weapon resembling a black and red bat-like demon wing with a smaller white angel wing at the tip and a handguard around the hilt with a keychain at the base appeared in a flash of light. This was the keyblade known as Way to the Dawn.<br>He pointed it at the central lock of the heavy metal door and a beam of light shot from the tip of his weapon through the keyhole. A few seconds later, the door swung open.  
>"It's the key we want, right?" asked Riku over the communicator, seeing two items on plinths in the vault. One was a golden key, the<br>other a white and gold gauntlet.  
>"Yes, why do you ask?" replied Gaara.<br>"There's a gauntlet here too", said Riku.  
>"Take it as well", said Gaara.<br>Riku grabbed the two items and turned back to the door, but someone else walked into the way. This person wore a black outfit with red lines over it, including a black faceless mask, and was a little shorter than Riku.  
>A keyblade appeared in his hand.<br>_So Solidor has a Keyblade wielder on his side?_ thought Riku. _That's interesting._  
>The black-masked person made the first move, but Riku parried the attack easily. The two keyblades clashed over and over until Riku managed to score a solid hit to the side of the stranger's head, knocking the mask from his face. As soon as he did, he took a step back in surprise.<br>"Sora?" said Riku. This person looked near-identical to Riku's friend, but there was a look in his eye that Riku never expected to see from Sora.  
>"Never heard of him", said the stranger. "Master Xehanort told me to eliminate whoever was in his vault, but I never expected a Keyblade wielder".<br>Xehanort? thought Riku with dread.  
>The Sora lookalike charged at Riku again, but suddenly the ceiling behind him came down with a crash, and a bald man in a black jacket with enormous red and black claws landed behind him.<br>"Riku, get out of here", he said. "I'll deal with this guy".  
>Riku ran on, still uncertain due to this person's resemblance to Sora.<br>"Found anything yet?" he asked as he ran, the communicator now on Batman's frequency.

Batman didn't answer, as he already had his hands full.  
>The Dark Knight of Gotham City had fought many foes in the past, a few of which could equal or best him in a close-quarters fight. This was something new.<br>His opponent was a small rabbit. A small rabbit who seemed to be beating him in a fight.  
>The rabbit in question was less than a foot high, small enough to make hitting him seriously difficult, while somehow still possessing the physical strength of a bear. This would be hard enough to deal with even if the rabbit was unarmed.<p>

Which it wasn't. Batman's bulletproof body armour had been forced to prove it lived up to its name five times already.  
>"Riku has the key", said Gaara via communicator. "Jump out the window now".<br>Batman wasted no time in racing for the window, snatching a handful of papers as he ran. He smashed through the window and his cape stretched out into wings, allowing him to glide away.  
>"Going somewhere?" asked a voice from right next to him. Batman looked round to see the rabbit sitting on his wing moments before the small<br>creature stabbed at his head with a switchblade.  
>To the rabbit's amazement, the blade met a barrier seemingly made of floating sand, before the furry assailant was thrown from Batman's shoulder as he came to a complete stop, grabbed by a hand made of the same sand.<br>Standing on a platform of sand, hovering in the cool evening air, stood Gaara.  
>The rabbit pulled out a handgun and shot at him several times, but the bullets were blocked by sand barriers that seemed to form out of sand from the gourd on his back automatically in response to the bullets.<br>"Eitha"  
>Suddenly, the rabbit was hurled away from Gaara and Batman, all the way back through the broken window.<br>"I thought you said you couldn't use that magic of yours except as a last resort, Brom", said Batman, noticing the old man who had spoken out of the corner of his eye, standing on a high building near the sand platform he was standing on.  
>"That rabbit was tiny", said Brom. "It didn't take much energy to throw him back through the window. But enough of that, we need to fly from here. Where are the others?"<br>"Riku and Sirius are making their way to the exit now", said Gaara. "Heller has been held up fighting an enemy Keyblade wielder for some time now, but he is now also heading for the exit".  
>"There they are now", said Batman, noticing the three running out the front entrance, several guards in pursuit. But then something else entirely took all of their attentions.<p>

Heartless. Thousands of them, appearing all over the city.


	24. Tale of Larten and Holmes: Chapter 2

"This place is overrun!" said Zero as he and the others fought their way through the streets swarming with Heartless.  
>"Also, doesn't this place seem familiar?" said Ryu. "Not like we've been here before, but as if we've heard about it".<br>"I'm surprised no-one has figured it out", said Meta Knight, slashing through a Neoshadow. "This is Rabanastre, and we're in the Heartless attack that got your friend Kairi caught".  
>Sora slashed through another Heartless with his Keyblade, then ran off in another direction.<br>"Sora! Where are you going?" shouted Ryu.  
>"I'm going to stop them from capturing her!" Sora shouted back.<br>Larten sighed. "You shouldn't have told him that. He's just going to do something reckless", he said, before running after the Keyblade wielder.

Elsewhere in the city, others were fighting the Heartless as well.  
>"These things just keep coming!" said a boy in sunglasses and a red suit as he slashed through a Rabid Dog Heartless with a broken sword.<br>"Not that they're good fighters or anything. What are they, anyway?"  
>"They're called Heartless, Dave", said another, a man in a black cloak with long spiky red hair as he threw a pair of elaborate chakrams wreathed in flames. "I thought you had it memorised?"<br>"Nah, that was probably future me or something", said Dave. "Also, where's America gotten to?"  
>"He's probably off being the hero somewhere", said the red-haired man.<br>"He does have a tendency towards unnecessary heroics, doesn't he", said what appeared to be a skeleton dressed in a suit and hat, destroying a sizeable number of Heartless with a broadsword and great blasts of fire and wind.

But then, just as quickly as they had appeared, all the Heartless vanished.

*****

"ALERT! ARMOURED HUMAN SOLDIERS APPROACHING!" said a red- black and yellow robot as a unit of Imperial soldiers approached Kairi and her team.  
>"You there! Keyblade Wielder!" cried commander of the unit. "Drop your weapon and hand yourself in quietly".<br>"Why? What have I done?" asked Kairi, wondering to herself how these people knew of the Keyblade.  
>"A Keyblade wielder broke into the royal palace earlier today", said the commander. "They aren't exactly common. I also have it on good authority that same Keyblade Wielder summoned the Heartless!"<br>"YOUR CALCULATIONS ARE NONSENSICAL", said the robot. "KEYBLADE WIELDERS ARE BOTH TARGETTED BY AND THE PRIMARY DESTROYERS OF HEARTLESS".  
>"Silence, you", said another soldier, before swinging the shaft of his spear at the robot. The robot responded by grabbing the spear shaft<br>and snapping it in his clawed hand.  
>"Seize them!" ordered the commander.<br>The moment the soldiers took a step forward, the group burst into action. The armoured rodent and the limbless being were the first to act, the former charging forward with the rockets on his back and the latter sending his hand flying towards the commander in a kind of long-range punch.  
>"Rayman, Sparkster, hold on a...<p>

Neither hit their target. In a flash, a man wearing a black suit complete with hat, gloves, dark glasses and a short cape appeared, catching Sparkster in one hand and Rayman's fist in the other before either reached the soldiers.  
>"That's enough", he said, before hurling Sparkster at the fast-approaching robot. They were sent flying back through a wall to land in a heap on the other side.<br>"Sparkster! Omega!" cried the younger girl beside Kairi, her catlike partner perched on her shoulder.  
>"I'll save you!" cried a voice from somewhere. Immediately afterwards, someone swung past on a rope, firing two shots from a revolver at the man. The first shot hit the man in black straight in the eye, shattering his glasses, though strangely no blood was coming from his injured eye. The other shot ricocheted off what appeared to be a large golden anvil which emerged when he took off his glove.<br>Kairi was speechless as the bullet shot back out of the man's eye as if it were made of elastic and only chose now to bounce back. The bullet cut through the rope, sending the gunman crashing to the ground.  
>Now that they could get a better look at him, the two girls could see that the stranger who had tried to save them was a young man with fair hair and glasses dressed in a WWII American aviator's coat.<br>"I can't blame you for not knowing what I was", said the anvil-handed man, letting what was left of his glasses fall to the ground. "Considering how well I always cover it up".  
>The man's eyes didn't look real. They were huge and red, and seemed the bulge out of his head.<p>

Like a cartoon character.

The cartoon-eyed man batted the man with the glasses back, slamming him against a wall, before taking the man's gun and shooting him four times in the chest with it. Kairi gasped, looking away, but the raccoon in the thief's cloak put a hand on her shoulder.  
>"Uh, Kairi? He isn't dead or anything", he said. "In fact, he doesn't look like the bullets did anything much to him at all".<br>"Is that it?" said the stranger. "Pretty lame, dude".  
>"I had assumed I was dealing with a human", said the man with the cartoon eyes. "I believe introductions are in order. Judge Doom, chief<br>inspector of Rabanastre and Toon Town"  
>"I'm sure you've heard of me already", said the other man. "But just in case you haven't..."<p>

"I am the United States of America, but most people just call me America"

"That's a country", said Doom.  
>"Yeah", said America. "Awesome, right?"<br>Doom knocked him back with the anvil again, this time bashing him against a metal board of some kind.  
>"I suppose if killing you will be difficult, I'll just have to settle with imprisoning you until you can be disposed of", said Doom, pulling out four small magnets that, like his eyes and anvil hand, looked like they belonged in a cartoon. He threw the magnets, which stuck themselves to the board at America's wrists and ankles.<br>"Take him away, along with the others", ordered Doom.  
>"YOU HAVE MISCALCULATED OUR CURRENT CONDITION IF YOU BELIEVE WE WILL COME QUIETLY" said the robot, before an enormous mechanical bird swooped down, slamming into the smaller robot and sending pieces flying from his body.<br>"Omega!" cried Kairi and the younger girl.  
><em><strong>Not him<strong>_, thought the raccoon. _**Anyone but him**_  
>"I'm told you have some history with this creature, Clockwerk", said Doom. He turned to Kairi. "Come quietly with us now and none of your friends here need to die".<br>Kairi looked across at Omega, badly damaged in the talons of the mechanical bird, at America, pinned to the board, and at Sparkster, still lying where Doom had thrown him.

Sora arrived at the scene in time only to see the last of the soldiers leaving. He ran towards the direction they had left in, only to trip up suddenly. Looking at his feet, he saw that part of the road had bent upwards to trip him.  
>"Do you want to get yourself killed?" asked someone behind him.<br>"Charging in on your own against an enemy you can't defeat is bad enough, but going against established timelines around an Instrument of Time is pretty much a death sentence".  
>Sora looked up at the voice to see a boy around his age with blond hair tied in a braided ponytail wearing a long red coat.<br>"But they're going to exec..." began Sora, before he noticed something. "Hold on, Instruments of Time? Established Timelines? How do you know about... Who are you?"  
>"My name is Edward Elric. I'm a State Alchemist", he said as Meta Knight and the others caught up to him. "Now, if you could come with me, there's someone I'd like you to meet".<br>"Oh yeah?" said Taskmaster. "Who's that?"  
>"His name is Sherlock Holmes", said Edward.<p> 


	25. Tale of Larten and Holmes: Chapter 3

"Wait, stop!" said Larten as they approached the building Holmes was staying in.  
>"What is it?" asked Ryu.<br>"I saw Woody and the others go in there just now", said Larten. "We may have to wait until they leave. We don't want to cause a paradox".  
>"What paradox?" said Meta Knight. "They never reached that part in their story".<br>"No, but neither did they seem to recognise us when we first met, which, if we had been there with them, they would have", said Larten.  
>"The only ones they seemed to recognise were the unicorn and her friends".<br>"Well, while they're in there, why not take a look at the castle?"  
>suggested Sora. "We're probably going to be going there to warn them they've made a mistake anyway..."<br>"No real point", said a familiar voice. "They're probably about to start the Lockdown, if they haven't already. I see you've made a few friends recently; Sora".  
>"Riku!" said Sora, running over to the source of the voice to see his friend accompanied by five strangers. "What do you mean Lockdown? Have you come to rescue Kairi too?"<br>"Rescue Kairi?" said Riku, surprised.  
>"The guards arrested Kairi for summoning the Heartless, and they're going to execute her for it! We have to tell them they've made a mistake!"<br>"They've made a mistake alright, but not the one you'd think", said Sirius. "They were probably told that a Keyblade Wielder was responsible for this because they could use the Heartless to draw a Keyblade wielder out into the open, but didn't anticipate two - or, in this case, three, Keyblade wielders to be in the city".  
>"My thoughts exactly", said another voice. "In fact, the ones commanding the Heartless and governing this city are working together.<br>They also had an Instrument of Time in their possession before it was stolen by the six of you. The other six came here from some point in the future where they met, or rather will meet, my previous guests, hearing half the story of their travels here from them before the building they were in was destroyed and they were forced to flee to the past".  
>"Now you're just showing off", said Edward. "How did you..."<br>He was cut off by a deep sound like the ringing of a huge bell.  
>"The Lockdown", said the newcomer.<p>

"Now that the first level has been locked, we should retire to the second level", said a smartly-dressed man in the castle. "But we could leave someone in the first level to capture the thieves when they come".  
>"I've gathered some other beings willing to help us, Mr. Shaw", said Doom. "We can seal them in the outer layer to deal with intruders and stay on the inner layer ourselves".<br>Twelve beings entered the room, lead by a dark cloud-like creature with a light blue eyes, a jagged light blue mouth and black cogs emerging from its surface. Following it was a small humanoid creature in a harlequin-like outfit and a white mask with three holes, a small yellow and black mouse-like creature, two Toon weasels, a small white humanoid creature with a carved pumpkin for a head, a scientist with bolts through his large head, a small green and yellow bipedal turtle with a tall blue ponytail, a small round blue creature with two feet, no arms and five leaves on its head, a small green insectoid creature partially concealed in a floating chrysalis and a purple and white mushroom with arms, legs and a face.  
>"Some of these beings seem powerful, but the others all seem either incompetant or weak", said Shaw. "What makes you think they can stop them?"<br>"Xehanort has already supplied several powerful Heartless, and Vanitas, Clockwerk and Bun-Bun have volunteered to stay in Level 1 as well"

"But we have to go and save Kairi!" shouted Sora. "And we can't do it without the key! Don't you care what happens to her?"  
>"Have you even considered the wider scale of things here?" said Brom sternly. "Those Instruments could mean the difference between repairing the timestream and letting it fall into the hands of people like Xehanort and Solidor. We can't go risking them on daring rescues".<br>"But..." began Sora.  
>"Suppose you do storm into the castle armed with Golden Sword and the Key to the Past, what happens then?" asked Brom. "You may be strong, but there's no way you could fight all of them by yourself when the guard is that high. I'm sorry, but saving one girl isn't worth risking two Instruments falling into the hands of people like him".<br>"What about you, Riku?" asked Sora. "Are you going to let them execute her?".  
>Riku didn't answer. After a few seconds, it was someone else who spoke.<br>"Tell you what, let's see how strong they are", said Sirius.  
>"What do you mean?" asked Heller.<br>"We'll have a little sparring match", continued Sirius. "Their team versus ours. If we win, we take the Sword of Timelines and the Key to the Present back to headquarters. But if they win, they can take the sword and the key to save the girl, and we help them".  
>"What?!" said Heller. "But..."<br>"I agree", said Gaara. "The key won't work when we need it to anyway because Solidor is currently in the Timeless Realm. Use the key and we'll just let him out. But most of his temporal machines won't work without the key".  
>"And you're saying we should let him have it back?", said Heller.<br>"I'm saying, if Crepsley's group is strong enough, we defeat him now", said Gaara. "If they can defeat us, then the twelve of us together should be strong enough to defeat them".  
>"Could be risky", said Batman. "We don't know what he's set up in there. It might be a trap".<br>"It's definitely a trap", said Meta Knight. "He wouldn't insist on executing Kairi at a set time, despite the fact he knows it wasn't her who stole the Key or the Gauntlet unless it was a trap".  
>Sora glared at diminutive swordsman for a second, but he went on.<br>"But we will walk into it nonetheless".

Riku grinned, summoning his Keyblade. "Only if you can beat me".  
>Sora summoned his Keyblade as well. "I'll be your opponent, Riku", he said. "I thought you of all people would know that".<br>"We protected the sword from a dragon, a fifty-foot plant monster, a powerful wizard and a demon", said Zero. "We're not about to lose to you".  
>"We'll see about that", said Gaara, the sand on the desert floor beginning to move.<br>"Show me your strength", said Ryu, getting into his usual fighting stance.  
>"Fine", said Heller, a large, red blade forming out of his arm. "Let's get this over with".<br>"Even if you are some kind of vampire, you're still a Muggle in terms of magic", said Sirius. "Try not to lose too badly".  
>"Same goes for you", said Larten. "Considering you couldn't hope to match my speed".<br>"Time for me to show you some moves", said Taskmaster.  
>"Likewise", said Batman.<br>"Then that leaves you as my opponent", said Meta Knight as he and Brom  
>drew their swords. "Prepare yourself!"<p> 


	26. Tale of Larten and Holmes: Chapter 4

_**Happy new year! Sorry it took so long, somehow I always end up writing**____**slower on holidays. Especially Christmas. I wrote an extra-super-long**____**chapter this time though. Enjoy!**_

After stepping out into the desert, the twelve beings faced each  
>other, six on each side.<br>"Gëuloth du knífr", said Brom. Seeing a confused look on the faces of the opposite team, he explained. "A little bit of magic so we don't end up killing each other with our swords".  
>"Now that that's out of the way..." said Gaara.<br>"Let's go", said Ryu.

The first to reach his opponent was Meta Knight, swooping down on Brom and slashing forward with his sword, but the former Dragon Rider blocked the attack with his own sword.  
>Brom dodged to the side as Meta Knight spiralled towards him like a drill, slashing down on the diminutive swordsman, but Meta Knight sidestepped the blade before spreading his wings and taking to the sky.<br>"If you think being airborne will disorientate me, you are sadly mistaken", said Brom, reaching down to grab a pebble from the ground and whispering something under his breath. The pebble shot from his hand towards Meta Knight, hitting him in the wing and sending him spiralling to the ground. As the knight got to his feet, he looked up just in time to see Brom swing down with his sword...

"Shoryuken!" cried Ryu, delivering an uppercut that sent Heller flying into the air. As Ryu jumped up after him, the infected soldier sent a tendril from one arm to wrap around Ryu's leg and pull him towards him. As Ryu came close, Heller's arm became a huge blade and he slashed at Ryu, but Ryu spun round, delivering a kick to Heller's head. The kick sent Heller flying to the ground, but he pulled Ryu down after him, swinging him over his head and slamming him into the ground. As Ryu got to his feet, he grabbed the tentacle-like appendage and pulled Heller up close before punching him in the face.

"Expelliamus!" cried Sirius, pointing his wand at Larten. The vampire's sword was sent flying from his hands and clattering to the ground. Larten ran towards Sirius at incredible speed, but the wizard conjured a magical shield with a cry of "Protego!"  
>Larten darted round the shield, aiming at Sirius from behind, but Sirius spun round at the last moment. "Confringo!" cried Sirius, creating an explosion that blasted Larten back against a desert rock.<br>"You're much quicker to resort to magic than your friend over there", said Larten, getting up off the rock.  
>"His magic works differently to mine", said Sirius. "His uses his own energy; mine doesn't cost me anything".<p>

As Gaara rose up on a mountain of sand, Zero leapt up after him, but was sent pummeting to the ground as a wave of sand hit him. A huge hand made of sand from the desert floor reached up to grab him, but Zero shot a fireball at it, the hand turning to glass.  
>"You won't destroy my sand so easily", said Gaara as Zero leapt off the immobile glass hand. Zero wondered what Gaara meant for a moment, until he saw the sand rushing past the hand, wearing it away back into sand again.<br>"Sand Prison", said Gaara, a tough ball of sand forming around Zero.

The shield and batarang ricocheted off each other in mid-air, embedding into two nearby rocks. Taskmaster lunged forward with his sword, but Batman blocked the attack with one arm, trapping the sword between the spikes on his gauntlet, then used his other hand to punch Taskmaster in the face, sending him crashing into the desert sand.  
>"You can throw a pretty mean punch", said Taskmaster, getting to his hands and knees as Batman walked closer. "But I can do better...".<br>"SHORYUKEN!" he cried, punching Batman into the air. Batman spun round in midair, leaping off Taskmaster's shoulders and gliding away on top of a nearby rock pillar, before leaping off into a nearby cave.

He wants to lead me some place dark, thought Taskmaster. Thinks he'll have the upper hand there...

"Those are some interesting friends you've gathered up, Sora", said Riku, the two Keyblades caught in a sword lock. "But do you trust them?"  
>"Of course I trust them!" cried Sora. "The sword of Timelines chose the six of us as its guardians. It wouldn't pull in people who would steal it or betray the others, right? That wouldn't make sense!"<br>The two broke apart and clashed a few more times before meeting in another Keyblade lock.  
>"What makes you so sure you know what the Instrument wants?" asked<br>Riku. "Or if you can trust it, for that matter".  
>"What?" said Sora. "It's supposed to fix the timestream..."<br>"Which timestream?" said Riku. "The Instruments are drawn towards people with the will to use them, but to what end? So many timelines have appeared from this time breakage, and yet they say the universe can only have one timeline..."

Unbeknownst to those fighting below, two beings were watching their every move from a high cliff.  
>"I don't care if he has got magic", said Stitch, taking a bite out of a large fish he had in front of him. "There's no way that old man has the speed to keep up with the little blue whatshisname".<br>"Well what about that one?" said Deadpool, pointing to the fight between Zero and Gaara as the sand prison around Zero started to turn to glass. "The sand kid has him on the run! He seems even stronger than that sand guy Spidey told me about..."  
>"I dunno..." said Stitch, swallowing what was left of his fish. "Seems pretty even to me. Could go either way. S'cuse me, I'm off to get more fish".<p>

"We're in the middle of a freakin' desert!" said Deadpool. "Where are you going to get another fish?"  
>"Same place I got this one", said Stitch as he scampered away. "There's a river just west of here".<p>

"I thought he'd never leave", said an unfamiliar voice as soon as Stitch was out of sight. Seemingly out of nowhere, a large creature in a long black cloak and a red and white mask came into Deadpool's view.  
>Despite standing hunched over, leaning on some kind of walking stick or cane, it still stood at least six feet tall. Behind the mask, two large, slightly pointed grey ears were visible. "Good evening, Mr. Wilson", it said. "I have a proposal for you".<p>

Meta Knight blocked Brom's attack just in time, stopping Brom's blade from hitting him. Even so, the attack left a slight mark on his metal mask.  
>Brom tried to swing his sword round only to find it locked between the spikes on Meta Knight's sword.<br>"Know my power!" said Meta Knight with a swing of his cape. In a flash, he spun his sword around in his hand, pulling Brom's sword from his hand, and dealt him a mighty blow with his sword.

Ryu tumbled back, sent flying by Heller's latest attack with his large shapeshifting mutant hands. He had only just gotten back to his feet when he saw Heller leaping towards him again from at least a hundred metres away and slamming him into the ground again.  
>Ryu didn't get up, and Heller began to walk away, assuming he'd knocked out the martial artist.<br>"Don't... turn your back on me", said Ryu, struggling to his eet.  
>"If you had stayed down, this would have been easier on you", said Heller. "Face it; you've lost. You can barely even stand".<br>"We'll... see about... that", said Ryu. "Hadoken!"  
>Heller stepped to the side, dodging a ball of blue energy with ease.<br>"Fine", he said. "We'll do it the hard way".  
>He ran back towards Ryu at incredible speed, his hands in the form of sword-like blades, swinging them back to scissor Ryu between them, when Ryu punched him in the gut, his hand glowing with blue energy.<br>"SHIN... SHO... RYU... KEN!" he cried, punching Heller far into the air as blue energy spiralled off in different directions

"Bombarda! Stupefy! Reducto! Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Sirius, firing spell after spell at Larten, but none of the could hit the vampire due to his speed. Time for a different tactic. "Incendio!" he added, aiming at a small cluster of bushes directly ahead of Larten.  
>The small shrubs burst into flames, cutting off Larten's path. Larten drew a glowing blue sword and slashed the air, sending a blast of energy towards Sirius. "Protego!" cried Sirius, quickly casting another shielding charm, Sirius deflected the attack, the blast hitting a cliffside and creating a landslide that blocked off Larten's retreat. Fallen rocks on one side, cliff on another, and flames on the third. The only way out of there was past Sirius.<br>"I haven't seen a weapon like that before", said Sirius.  
>"This weapon is not of my time", said, Larten, flitting towards Sirius. He at him with the sword, but when he looked round, there was no sign of the wizard, just a large black dog running off around the corner.<p>

"So you followed me in here", said Batman, watching from a higher ledge as Taskmaster entered the cave. The only light came from the entrance the skull-masked mercenary came in through, so Taskmaster was judging Batman's location by sound alone. "Our enemies will have the terrain advantage due to familiarity with the castle and knowledge with its layout. They may also have some of the rooms designed with their soldiers and other recruits in mind".  
>"That's why you dragged me in here, right?" said Taskmaster. "See if I can deal with someone who's got the home field advantage? What, can you see in the dark or something?"<br>"Not just that", said Batman, leaping down towards Taskmaster, who only saw him just as it was too late to dodge. Batman knocked him back into the darkness.  
>In this dark I can't see his moves, thought Taskmaster. And if I can't see them, I can't copy them. On top of that, that bat guy is like some kind of ninja or something, 'cause I can't hear anything when he moves!<p>

Gaara watched as the glass shattered around Zero.  
>"Taskmaster isn't the only one in our group who can copy moves", said Zero, raising a hand. "Sand Prison!"<br>If Gaara was surprised by this attack, he didn't show it. The sand formed a ball around him as it had around Zero, but try as he might, Zero couldn't shrink the sand prison.  
>The sand automatically comes to his defence, thought Zero. Even<br>against itself...  
>Good thing I have other attack methods. Time to cut him off from the sand.<br>Zero shot a stream of fire at Gaara, heating the sand into glass and sealing Gaara in a transparent ball.  
>"Genmu Zero!" cried Zero, his body glowing with red light as his sword grew huge and glowed green. He slashed through the glass sphere with ease and blasted Gaara back to the desert floor.<p>

"Freeze!" shouted Sora, firing several blasts of ice from his Keyblade, but all of them hit only a transparent shield Riku had summoned. Riku looked round to see Sora coming at him from the side, blocking his attack with comparative ease. Sora and Riku both leapt back from each other. They charged at each other again, only for a familiar red-haired Nobody to step between them and block both Keyblades with his chakrams.  
>"Axel?" said Sora.<br>"The rest of Sora's team have already won their fights. Save your strength for Xehanort's armies".  
>"Fine", said Riku, dismissing his keyblade. "To be honest, I wanted to storm the castle and save Kairi anyway. Just promise me one thing, Sora".<br>"What is it?" asked Sora.  
>"After we save Kairi, let's finish this fight", replied Riku.<p>

"Fine, we'll go rescue the girl", said Brom. He turned his eyes to the  
>Sword of Timelines. "What about that? We don't need it for the break-<br>in, so it would be better not to take it with us in case we're  
>captured. Better not to keep both Instruments in the same place. We<br>can't send it back to the main headquarters yet either".  
>"We could hide it by sealing it in the gauntlet we stole from the<br>castle", said Gaara, taking out the gauntlet and undoing the bindings to open it out. The Sword of Timelines vanished in a puff of smoke, and markings appeared on the inside of the gauntlet.  
>"Hey wait, that's..." began Ryu.<br>"...the gauntlet the blue alien used with the Sword to send the town and its people back to their respective times", said Meta Knight.  
>"He said it was an Instrument", said Larten. "Maybe he was only half right..."<br>"How intriguing", said Skulduggery. "I believe I know how to ensure the Sword's safety and aid your past-future allies at the same time".  
>"Give them the gauntlet?" asked Taskmaster.<br>"Not quite", replied Holmes. "If it were simply given to them, why would they tell you of the previous events rather than simply informing you they were given it? No, I propose while you fight your way into the castle, we break Kairi's allies out of the dungeons, and lead them to believe that that is where it was hidden to begin with".  
>"Why all the time-balancing?" asked Zero. "What would happen if we just held onto it ourselves?"<br>"The universe's time is unstable", said Edward. "Every paradox bring us one step closer to total destruction of all existence. A big one involving an Instrument of Time might be enough to send us over the edge as it is".

Stitch made his way back to the river he caught the fish in. He found it slightly odd a river full of fish would be in the middle of a desert without connecting to the sea, but he assumed it must flow in and out through time cracks.  
>Stitch only realised how cold it was when a gust of wind blew past him; it wasn't exactly freezing, but compared to the desert outside, it was like he was standing in a huge fridge. But he decided that investigating the source of the cold could wait as he heard sounds that turned out to be singing.<br>"The rock and pool

Is nice and cool  
>So juicy sweet"<br>Stitch crept up slowly, looking down over the river to see a small emaciated hunched-over humanoid wearing only a loincloth. He had seemingly caught some kind of fish, and was bashing it against the rock he was standing on...  
>"Our only wish<br>To catch a fish  
>So juicy sweeeeet!"<br>Suddenly, something jumped onto him from behind, attempting to strangle him. Stitch managed to shake the creature off him to see that it was the same being as the one from the pool. He tried to run towards it, hoping to either send it running or beat it into submission, but he suddenly felt weak, as if his energy was simply disappearing somewhere. He caught only a glimpse of the slug-like Kraata on his arm before he collapsed. He pulled out his prototype Time Pistol, but lost conciousness before he could pull the trigger, the firearm falling to the ground in front of him.

"Your trap was commendable", said a voice. "Using your own time  
>duplicate as a distraction to give yourself the element of surprise was a good ploy, but you must have realised that this creature outmatched you in both skill and strength".<br>Gollum recognised the voice, and it filled him with rage.  
>The white wizard. Saruman.<br>But when the owner of the voice stepped forward, it clearly was no wizard.  
>"I wonder where you came upon that Kanohi Mohtrek you used to summon your double over there", added the speaker, revealing his large, cloaked body and mask. He picked up Stitch's Time Pistol, looking curiously at the design. He dettached the barrel and added two pieces before clicking it back together. He began coughing and spluttering; when he spoke again, it was in another voice, one Gollum did not recognise. "It matters not. I don't need this, if you want it, you can have it", he said, tossing the pistol containing an Instrument of Time unceremoniously to the ground. Gollum quickly scrambled over to get it. The stranger walked on, ignoring both Gollum and Stitch's unconscious body crawling with Kraata.<p>

"Gaara, could I have word?" asked Brom. It was getting late, and the two teams had set up camp for the night in the cave Batman and Taskmaster had fought to rest before the coming assault on Solidor's castle. Sora and Riku were recounting some of their adventures since they last parted ways, Zero, Taskmaster, Batman and Meta Knight were checking up on their weapons and equipment, Heller was keeping watch, and Ryu and Sirius were either asleep or doing a very good impression of it.  
>"You're wondering why I didn't let on about my sand armour and allowed Zero his victory", said Gaara.<p>

"What was that about?" asked Peter as Holmes returned to the room.

"Gathering information", said Holmes. "I know where we can find an Instrument of Time, but I believe Baldor and Gollum know where it is as well".  
>"An Instrument of Time?" said Jack. "Splendid!"<br>"Wait a minute", said Woody, suddenly suspicious. "What do you know about the Instruments? We never mentioned them".  
>"A lot", said Holmes. "I daresay more than anyone else outside the Order".<br>"Order?" asked Tigress.  
>"There exists a group, somewhere in time, who are devoted to the collection of the Instruments of Time and the restoration of a main timeline", explained Holmes. "They have multiple groups working for them throughout time, both in searching for Instruments and information on them and defeating groups who would misuse them.<p>

This was news to Woody and the others. While they held no illusions that they were the only ones hunting for the Instruments, they didn't know there was a larger organisation trying to collect them with good intentions.  
>"How many have they collected?" asked Woody.<br>"No-one knows", said Axel. "It's impossible to know how many they have at any one time, with the time flux and all".  
>"So where is this Instrument?" asked Peter.<p>

"I'll lead you there", said Edward. "Is anyone else coming?"  
>"I suppose I'll join your little expedition", said Skulduggery. "Axel, are you going to join us?"<br>"Sure", said Axel. "I think Dave is busy though".

"Is everyone ready?" asked Brom, looking across at Gaara, Zero,  
>Sirius, Meta Knight, Sora, Heller, Batman, Taskmaster, Dave, Riku, Larten and Ryu as he stood at the main entrance holding the Key in one hand. A spectral lock the size of an adult human was visible on the gate, its slight glow an eerie purple. Behind it was a physical lock of silver-coloured metal, but none of them worried too much about that one.<br>"As ready as we're going to be", said Zero.  
>Brom put the key in the ghostly purple lock and turned it. At the same time, Sora and Riku pointed their Keyblades at the silver lock and fight beams of light at it. Both locks vanished and the doors swung open.<p>

No sooner had they done so that a huge dark cloud with a jagged, jack-o-lantern-like face and various cogs emerging from its surface appeared before them.  
>"What is that thing?" asked Ryu, as the Key flew out of Brom's hands and into its mouth.<br>"The Time Eater", said Dave, drawing his broken sword. "You guys go on. This guy's mine".

Holmes' team was chosen by OurLordDisco, and a great team it is too. Similarly great is Gaara's team, brought to us by wyvern97. Kairi's team was thought of by Krocken, and Vayne Solidor and his allies were chosen by Italian Schizoid Boy, while their recently-acquired allies were chosen by Colby Waker and Super Pichu.

_**The title of this arc is a little misleading; Holmes hasn't gotten to**____**do much this chapter, but he and he team will have a major role in**____**later arcs. I wonder if anyone can guess who or what the mysterious**____**cloaked masked being is yet.  
>Next chapter may be a little while off, I have exams fairly soon and<strong>____**after them other stories will need an update. Hope everyone can wait**____**until then.**_

_**Oh, and one more note for Peanutter. I like the team, and I would**____**love to include it, but unfortunately, as I may have said earlier, I**____**can't take any more teams right now. If I write a sequel, your team**____**will be first on the list. Same applies to Colby Waker's most recent**____**teams. They might make a cameo or something though.**_


	27. TARDISchat 1

_**Had an idea for this chapter fairly recently as a way of revealing several future hints I had planned at once. It's short, confusing and not intended as a full chapter. Hope this one isn't too mind-melting for you...**_

Dave stumbled into the main body of the castle. He had just finished his fight with Time Eater, and though he was in fairly bad shape right now, he had at least come off better than his opponent. He realised, though, that he now had no idea where the others went.

It was at times like these Dave liked to check an online intertemporal message board he set up a few months ago (from his perspective) with a couple of others, one of whom he suspected was actually his future self. Initially, he hadn't been overly keen on the idea, owing to the fact that attempts to do this before the time breakage by an acquaintance of his (an alien troll called Karkat) usually went nowhere and lead to annoying time loops where he would have an argument with his future self only to go on and have the same argument in reverse only a few minutes later. But he had found that some people on it (who he had no doubt he would get round to meeting some day) were actually very helpful.

"**TurntechGodhead (TG) has logged in**" flashed onto the view on his iShades. Sadly, there didn't seem to be anything else visible yet... Dave was surprised when, a few seconds later, "A**irborneImmortal (AI)has logged in**" flashed onto the screen, followed by "**EaterOfTime (TE)has logged in**". Dave sighed. CI was usually helpful enough. No sign of MisterUnlucky (MU) either, which was probably for the best for now. MU imparted important advice on occasion, although he tended to be overly theatrical and sometimes typed as if he was writing a song. The other one, however... He mind-typed a message while ensuring no-one else was coming.

TG: just after I kill you, you log on to talk to me?

TG: also, could you not have thought up a more creative screenname?

TG: you haven't even reversed the letters in the abbreviated version.

TE: FIRST OF ALL, YOU HAVE NOT ACTUALLY KILLED ME

AI: Um

TG: dude, I sliced you from head to tail

TE: YOU ONLY DELAYED ME. NOW GIVE ME YOUR COMPUTING EYE SHIELDS

TG: wait what

TE: YOUR EYE LENS DEVICE. THE ONE YOU ARE USING TO TALK TO ME NOW

TG: hell no

AI: Am I here at a bad time?

AI: I was told this was a good place to gather information and advice.

TG: kind of looking for advice here myself but hit me.

TG: what advice are you looking for?

TG: I be passin out info like cheap cigars

AI: Um ok

AI: my party has been imprisoned in a large cube-shaped prison on some planet I know not where. Two of my friends have recently vanished from their cells.

AI: Also another friend has been corrupted somehow and seems to be being controlled and using weird powers

AI: Do you know anything about this

TG: Sorry, I got nothing

AI: well, maybe I can help with your problem

TG: I just killed a huge eldritch time monster who's now telling me he's not dead and to give him my shades - which there's no way in hell he's getting

TE: I NEED THEM IN THE FUTURE

TE: TO SAVE YOU

TG: nice try, but no

TG: anyway, now I lost the others. Do you know the way to the main audience chamber in rabanastre castle?

AI: sorry, no idea

ChroniclerIlluminated (CI) has logged in

CI: TG, here's the map to the castle

**RegeneratingAwesomeness (RA) has logged in**

**RegeneratingAwesomeness (+5 min) (RA1) has logged in**

**RegeneratingAwesomeness (+9 min) (RA2) has logged in**

**RegeneratingAwesomeness (+17 min) (RA3) has logged in**

**RegeneratingAwesomeness (+1 hour) (RA4) has logged in**

RA1: hey cool! It's me from a few minutes ago!

RA2: I could say the same about you, me from a few minutes ago

RA: damn you time travel! Now I know I'm going to be on here for at least 17 more minutes, and a new episode of a tv series I was really into is on in 6!

CI: um...

RA1: never mind that, from what I remember when I was you, us from an hour later is about to say something really cool and important!

TE: COULD ALL OF YOU BE QUIET FOR A MOMENT? I'M TRYING TO GET THE HUMAN CHILD TO GIVE ME HIS COMMUNICATION EYEPIECE LENSES AND YOU ARE VERY DISTRACTING

RA2: Hey Dave, you can give the glasses to big-ol' cloudface's semi-dead body and be part of team LAAAAAME, or you could keep hold of them, listen to these instructions I have for you, and join Team SUPER MEGA AWESOME EXTREME BONANZA!

TE: DON'T LISTEN TO HIM STRIDER. HE'S LEADING YOU TO YOUR UNAVOIDABLE DEATH

TE: WHERE HE KILLS YOU.

RA: That's ridiculous! I wouldn't kill you!

***AI just died***

RA: At least, not in such a long-winded way

RA: Wait, what happened to AI?

R4: Wait for it.

***AI returned from the dead***

AI: Ow.

RA3: Oh man, I still have no idea what's happened to AI.

RA5: I do. *Evil Laugh*!

RA: You see, if I kill someone I do it in as convoluted a manner as possible!

RA2: Yes! Me number 1 has the right idea! Listen to me!

RA3: No, Time Eater is actually right. Give him the sunglasses. Isn't that right, me number 5?

RA5: I didn't kill AI! Why does everybody think I killed AI! Including myself!?

AI: Alright, that's far enough...

RA4: Here it comes...

***AI booted RA2 from the conversation***

AI: Hey neat! I just booted someone from the conversation!

RA: Hey, you can't just boot future me number 2!

AI: That's what I thought! I have no idea how I just did that. I wonder if I can do it again?

***AI booted RA from the conversation"**

***RA4 booted AI from the conversation***

RA1: Haha! That's what you get for booting past and future me! ***TE booted RA1 from the conversation* **TE: I SHOULD HAVE DONE THIS EARLIER ***RA4 booted TE from the conversation *** CI: um... ***RA4 booted CI from the conversation * **RA3: that's harsh. He didn't even get to say anything. RA4: Go ahead. Boot me. I dare you... ***RA3 and RA4 simultaneously booted each other from the conversation* **Dave sighed again. This was EXACTLY like Karkat's message boards.

**So yeah, this conversation will make more sense in later chapters. Asfor the screen names, see if you can guess who the others typing are. First one who guesses them all wins a prize of some kind.**


	28. Tale of Larten and Holmes Final Chapter

"That's the last of them", said Ryu as the large orange rodent fell to the ground, its long black tail with the lightning-bolt tip lashing out at the wall before falling still.  
>Bun-bun watched, intruiged by the fighters who had bested his minions.<br>He had used the field created by the lockdown to his advantage,  
>spending weeks administering harsh training on the eleven (he hadn't tried anything with Time Eater; the eldritch monster was probably immune to this field anyway) beings to turn them into potent fighters, but seemingly it hadn't been enough. Granted, he had only expected them to slow down and weaken the intruders, or force them to divide allowing the minions to pick off the stragglers and make things easier for Xehanort and Vayne, but he hadn't expected them to leave behind only a few fighters and still come out victorious. Ryu, Batman, Taskmaster, Brom, Sirius and Heller had defeated all his "students", even the two Pokémon, which he had evolved beyond their weak baby forms.<br>"Your attempts to achieve the upper hand have failed", said Meta  
>Knight, appearing behind the rabbit. "Now fight me!"<br>In a flash, both fighters attacked, Bun-bun drawing his handgun as Meta Knight dashed past, slashing with his sword.  
>For a moment, it looked like neither had hit their mark. Then Meta Knight's mask shattered, and, simultaneously, the gun in Bun-bun's hands slid apart into two pieces.<br>"You don't look so scary without your mask", said Bun-bun. "You should keep it off. It would make you easier to underestimate".  
>Then Bun-bun noticed the slash wound on his chest.<br>"Every opponent underestimates me", said Meta Knight. "And a true warrior does not hide behind deception".

Meanwhile, Sora, Riku, Zero, Larten and Gaara had reached the second gate. However, they had found it guarded by another Keyblade wielder.

One who closely resembled Sora, for some reason.

The Sora look-alike had proved to be a powerful fighter, but in the end, he wasn't able to defeat Sora and Riku together. As the stranger collapsed, Sora looked somewhat worried.  
>"What's the matter, Sora?" asked Riku.<br>"Was that... another timeline's version of me?" asked Sora.  
>"I don't know", said Riku. "But I fought him before, and he either didn't know anyone by that name or pretended he didn't, so if he is, he's pretty far removed".<br>Gaara took the Key and inserted it into the lock, unlocking the door like the one outside. The five made their way into the audience chamber to find Kairi held by two guards, along with what lolled to be either Ansem or Xemnas, a man with long black hair dressed in extravagant armour of some kind (who Sora guessed must be Vayne Solidor himself) and another finely-dressed man.  
>"Sora! Riku! Get out of here, it's a trap!" shouted Kairi.<br>"Let Kairi go!" shouted Sora.  
>"Having to capture this poor girl was regrettable, but you left me with no choice", said Solidor. "These friends of yours broke into my palace and stole what is rightfully mine. I'm sure we can come to some kind of understanding if you would just return my Key".<br>Sora hesitated for a moment, but then Riku spoke. "Don't listen to him, Sora. After he has the key he'll kill us all. That man beside him is the original Xehanort!"  
>"I'll free her", said Larten, flitting forward only to find the well-dressed man blocking his path.<br>"Did you think you were the only one with such speed?" said the man. "Allow me to educate you to your mistake".  
>Larten slashed at him, but his claws seemed to stop on contact with the man, doing no damage. The stranger retaliated with a superhumanly strong punch to the vampire's stomach, sending him flying back against a wall".<br>"Too bad. You could have all made it out of here alive", said Solidor. "Kill the girl".  
>The two soldiers swung their swords not at Kairi, but at Solidor<br>himself.

Solidor was almost caught off guard, dodging the attack just in time. Xehanort retaliated, striking the two with a Keyblade he summoned in one hand and sending them crashing over the tables and chairs. As one of them got up, minus his helmet, Sora was surprised to see a familiar face.  
>"Lupin?"<br>"You've heard of me?" asked Lupin, the other guard standing up and removing his helmet to reveal himself to be Jigen.  
>"Of course I have!" said Sora. "We met at the... wait a second...". He suddenly remembered part of Jack's story...<p>

_"What should we do now?" asked Tigress as she, Buzz and Peter landed__next to the others.  
>"Also, where are Lupin and Jigen?" asked Peter.<br>Woody looked around to see that they were nowhere to be seen.__**  
><strong>_  
>"That hasn't happened yet for them", whispered Zero.<br>"Well, wherever you know me from, you're not the only ones who broke in here", said Lupin.  
>"We just use a little thing called stealth", said Jigen.<br>As Kairi ran over to Sora and Riku's side of the room and summoned her Keyblade, Xehanort moved between them and the door.  
>"You three take him on", said Larten. "Gaara and Zero can handle<br>Solidor. As for me, I'll do battle with him", he said, eyeing the finely-dressed man.  
>"I have a name, you know", he said. "Sebastian Shaw, at your service".<p>

"Larten Crepsley", said the vampire, returning the gesture.  
>"A good plan", said Vayne. "But I think there's something you missed..."<br>Suddenly, what looked to be a huge mechanical eagle swooped down on Lupin and Jigen. They would have been torn to shreds, had a Corridor of Darkness not opened between them and the six beings Kairi had came accompanied by sprang out, leaping onto the monstrosity and sending it crashing to the ground.  
>"Guys!" cried Kairi. "How did you get here?"<br>"Some guys broke into the dungeon and freed us", said Sparkster. "A cowboy and a spaceman and two skeletons, a tiger, a boy in a red coat and another in green... And this guy with crazy red hair in a black coat who said you might remember him. I think his name was... Axel?"  
>"Who are these people?" asked Sora.<br>"These are some friends of mine. Sly, Kari, Gatomon, Omega, Rayman, Sparkster, this is Sora".  
>"Sora? You found him?" said Kari.<br>"As touching as this reunion is, we really have other things to focus on", said Sly, as he, Omega, Sparkster, Rayman and Gatomon tried to subdue Clockwerk. It didn't work though, and the great mechanical beast beat the five off and sent them flying off around the room - all except Omega and Sly, who seemed to have a fairly good grip on the beast.  
>So many things were going on at once that Solidor missed his chance to dodge and became trapped in Gaara's sand. The Dark Corridor had by no means closed, and out of it came more people. Woody, Buzz, Jack, Peter, Mickey, Tigress, Axel, Edward, Skulduggery and America flooded through the portal while Ryu, Heller, Meta Knight, Batman, Sirius, Taskmaster and Dave made their way in through the doors.<p>

Shaw said nothing as he fought Crepsley, but it was clear to him that the tables had turned.  
><em>Also, where the devil has Doom gotten to?<em> he thought.  
>Then suddenly, Vayne Solidor, Sebastian Shaw, Xehanort and Clockwerk vanished in a strange whirl of space itself, not a trace left behind.<p>

"Yeah, you'd better run!" said Peter.  
>"So where's Holmes gotten to?" asked Dave.<br>"He hid himself somewhere. Said he had some matters to take care of, and he'll contact us again when he needs us. Probably on that TARDISchat thing. He also said there's a temple with twelve sarcophagi in it that he's rigged to use the energy of that time gun of Stitch's to freeze them until they're woken up. That way, they'll be able to meet those friends of theirs they haven't met yet and help them out of a tough spot".

"How are we supposed to tell them that?" asked Dave.

"Just tell them there's some friends who need their help in the future and that's the only way to get them there".

"We had best get out of here before Woody or any of the others we haven't met yet asks who we are", whispered Larten. "And take the key on the way".  
>As Sora, Riku, Kairi and their companions left the room, Gaara didn't say a word. But he knew who was responsible for their escape.<p>

Though an even bigger shock came when they got to the gate and found no sign of the Key to the past or the mysterious Keyblade wielder.

* * *

><p>Time Eater awoke to find the castle silent and a pair of computerised lenses in front of him.<br>It appeared the intruders had defeated the other henchmen and left, leaving no sign of either Solidor's inner circle or their own defeated-if there had been any. He also noticed that Raichu and Vileplume had reverted to their most basic state of evolution. He realised he must have subconsciously eaten the time they spent in the Time-locked castle.  
>He gathered up the unconscious bodies of Groove Guy, Pichu, Wheezy, Pumpkinmon and Doctor N. Brio. According to the data spectacles, there was another being requesting his assistance. Perhaps they would have more luck than Solidor just had.<p>

This stranger calling themself "The Joker" certainly had put forth a good argument.

* * *

><p>Solidor, Xehanort, Clockwerk and Shaw found themselves, along with Doom and an injured Bun-bun and an unconscious Vanitas, in a chamber in some kind of underground establishment. The only light came from a candle on the far side of the room, so the other side of the room was in pitch darkness.<br>"Greetings", said a stranger in the dark end of the room. All that could be seen of him was a single eye, its red iris containing a pattern of black. "My name is Madara Uchiha. King Galbatorix has requested to see you"  
>"Before we get into any of that, I have a question to ask you", said Solidor.<p>

"Ask it", said Madara.  
>"Where is my Key?" demanded the governor.<p>

* * *

><p>"We have the Key to the Past within our possession", said Baldor as he Gollum returned to the cave where Gorilla Grodd and Biollante had made their headquarters.<br>"Good work", said Grodd. "Now that we have an Instrument of Time under our possession, we can begin".  
>He took the key and pushed it into an imaginary door in the air beside him.<br>"What are you doing?" asked Juri as the "door" seemed to open somehow. Behind it was nothing but the vast emptiness of space.  
>"Creating our own Earth", said Gorilla Grodd. "By seperating this instant from the rest of reality".<br>A moment later, a new, fragmented Earth appeared in the space. Gorilla Grodd closed the door slowly.  
>"It is time to make some changes to our new world".<p>

**I would have liked to expand the fights a little, but I never got round to that. After the battles of the chapter before last, I felt we needed a little break from the battling for a moment. **

**About the previous chapter, I'm taking it from the lack of reviews it either wasn't the most well-received chapter or people just didn't know what to make of it. Maybe even mistook it for a chapter of the wrong story misplaced. If so, sorry about that. It doesn't make much sense now, but it will in later chapters.**

**This arc highlights a little of what Woody and Lupin's teams were doing in Rabanastre before they turned up at the end of the second arc. The Deadpool and Stitch two chapters ago were them before they went forward. The time shenanigans may be a little confusing, so if anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask.**

**NEXT CHAPTER: We begin the Tale of Lupin and Tintin!**


	29. Tale of Tintin, Lupin and the Wolf 1

_"...The sword is safely hidden, but there is no sign of the Key. Gaara__says the one who took it is most likely the same man who pulled__Solidor and his allies out, an immensely powerful ninja by the name of__Madara Uchiha._

We are alive and well, and searching for more clues as to the location

_of our allies, along with the other Instruments. We have seen no sign__of Holmes, Strider or their allies since the battle, but we believe__they made it out safely as well. If you hear any word of Uchiha,__Solidor or Xehanort, stay on your guard. They are cunning and__powerful, but we must fight them at some stage if we are to obtain all__the Instruments and set time right._

We are travelling with Kairi's allies, but Riku, Gaara, Brom, Sirius,

_Heller and Batman have left to report to some kind of higher__authority. Not sure if this authority can be trusted either, but at__least they appear to be making an effort to restore the timeline.__  
>Omega has some kind of sensor that allows the detection of a time<em>_crack's destination, so our next destination appears to be somewhere__in medieval France. Hopefully we shall receive further instruction there_

_Larten and co."  
><em>  
>"Well that's good news... mostly", said Tintin as Lupin finished reading out the letter they had found tucked inside the gauntlet.<br>It had been three weeks (from their point of view) since they had been separated from the others at the hangar. Tintin had used the orb to transport himself, Lupin and the others to Marlingspike Hall, where they had been gathering information, getting an odd moment of relaxation in this whirlwind of time, monsters, mysteries and battle.

"Maybe", said the Preacher. "It seems our list of enemies grows longer".

"But at the same time, we're getting more allies", said Tintin.

"And at the very least, that answers a few questions about what was going on outside while we were at Holmes' house", said Tigress. "And why Holmes took us to the dungeons to find the gauntlet when he was hiding it with him the entire time".

Tintin sighed. "There isn't exactly a lot to go on, as Klaus says nearly all the books on the Instruments seem to be full of nothing but silly rumours and Chinese whispers. Only three of them even have both the Instruments we know, and two of them don't seem to know what they do. Our only clues are this letter and the other book".  
>Lupin picked up the book, simply entitled "The Instruments of Time", with the author's name, Morlock Le Hess on the spine. Apart from those six words embossed in gold, the brown leather cover contained no information that might hint at its usefulness. As well as information on the Sword, Orb and Key, it contained a description of a fourth Instrument, the Staff of the Future. According to the book, it allowed the user to see the future of any being or object with a single touch. By doing so, it sealed the object's fate in stone - there would be no way for this object to deviate from what was seen, except perhaps by the influence of another Instrument. Yet the author admitted to not knowing anything about the fifth Instrument, though he seemed adamant there were five in total. The book also mentioned the Gauntlet, but claimed that it was not an Instrument and its powers came from a different Instrument, but wouldn't elaborate on that.<p>

"What about Deadpool's mysterious informant?" asked Tigress. "Can he be trusted?"  
>"He seems secretive, and he keeps his distance where he can", said Lupin. "Especially from the Instruments themselves".<p>

They stopped when they heard a bell ringing. "That'll be the door", said Tintin. "I'll get it".

"That's it! I am NOT going to log back and have this conversation three more times!" shouted Deadpool, after being booted from the conversation he was having twice in a row.

"Something bothering you man?" said Po as he walked past.  
>"I just got booted twice from the same conversation!" said Deadpool. "Damn TE and AI, booting me from the conversation! And I know now that if I go on again, I'll get booted even earlier than the last two times!"<br>"Wait, hold on, you were having a conversation with some guys... and then these guys, Tei Ee and Ei Ai kicked you away? And you think they'll do it again if you come back?", said Po. "Were you bugging them or something? Who are these guys anyway? And where are they?"

Deadpool facepalmed. He had forgotten Po came from an alternate ancient China and wouldn't have a clue what he was talking about.  
>"Not in person, on the computer", said Deadpool. "Look, basically, imagine you want to talk to someone, but you can't talk to them, so you write little messages to them and pass them back and forth".<p>

"Ok..." said Po.  
>"Well this is the same thing", said Deadpool. "Only the person is really far away, and you use the buttons on the keyboard instead of writing, and the computer sends the messages directly to them in a matter of seconds".<br>"Wow", said Po. "That's awesome!"  
>"This one's should be even better because it lets you talk to people in the past and future too, but these other guys... Hold on a sec...".<br>He noticed a message coming in on the screen above.

ReluctantKronos (RK) added you to a conversation.  
>RK: I need your help with something<p>

"Ugh, not again", said Deadpool, as he typed in a reply.

RA: What do ya want, you creepy masked weirdo?  
>RK: I find that strangely hypocritical. You wear a mask all the time too.<br>RA: Yeah, but my mask is cooler.  
>RK: I have a task for you.<br>RK: There is someone I'd like to meet by the name of Dave Strider. I believe he may be the only free time traveller right now.  
>RA: You wouldn't happen to be asking me to talk to him online and ask him to follow a set of instructions, would you?<br>RK: I take it you met him earlier online, a future you asked this and he refused?  
>RA: Ooooooh, good guess but no<br>RA: Future me got booted before he could say what they were  
>RK: Hmmm...<br>RA: And then I got booted. Twice.  
>RK: Regardless, you may have to go online anyway.<br>RA: Seriously? I'd only be going on so past me can see myself have the conversation I'm going to have?  
>RK: You could always log back on after you get booted. If you read another future versions after the next one, that is<br>RA: I have to go on three more times?

RK: I'll get you something nice if you do. Trust me, you'll love it.

RA: I'd better  
>RK: Trust me, you won't be disappointed<br>* RK has left the conversation.  
>Deadpool groaned. "Fine, let's get this over with..."<p>

Klaus put aside yet another book. This one seemed to contain nothing but a long string of seemingly random letters, all of them "A"s, "B"s, "D"s, "F"s, "L"s, "O"s, and "W"s. It seemed strange that someone should write something like this, maybe even stranger than that black book he saw yesterday with "The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die" written in the inside cover and the rest of the pages blank.

The book by Morlock le Hess seemed to be the only book related to the Instrumnts of any value, but Klaus had found some other useful and interesting books in the library that looked as if they had ended up there from other timelines. Some of them, however, like these two, didn't seem to make much sense.  
>He jumped slightly as another book was placed on the desk while he was midway through a book entitled "Hogwarts: A History".<p>

Tintin opened the door to see a man in a black-and-white hat, blue jeans and a yellow and black long-sleeved t-shirt with an unusual round face-like emblem on it.  
>"I don't believe we've met", he said. "Name's Trafalgar Law. I'm told a thief by the name of Arséne Lupin the Third is staying here, is he in?"<br>"What do you want to meet him for?" asked Tintin. "You aren't some sort of authority come to arrest him, are you?"  
>"Course not", he said. "Actually, I'm sort of the opposite. I'm a pirate, and the reason I'm here is because the leader of the little group I've joined is planning something, and he'll need Lupin and a few of his friends to pull it off".<br>"What kind of thing is he planning?" asked Tintin.  
>"Can't say too much, this being a very secret operation and all", he said. "But it involves rumours that a certain man has a certain object that we need".<br>"Can you tell me either of them?" said Tintin.  
>"Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" said Lupin, walking over to where Law and Tintin were talking.<br>"London, I was with Bigby and the others", said Law. "And I guess I can tell you this much..."  
>"The item is known as the Staff of the Future, and the man who is rumoured to have it is known as King Galbatorix of Alegesia".<p> 


	30. Tale of Tintin, Lupin and the Wolf 2

"Walking blows", said a blue hedgehog-like creature as he and his group walked through an abandoned city. It seemed there were a lot of abandoned things lying around in this broken-down world. "Can't we just..."  
>"Sorry Sonic", said a muscular man walking nearby. He wore a blue and red outfit with a red cape currently blowing in the wind and a yellow and red diamond-shaped symbol on his chest with an S in the middle. "But if we went there at anything near our full speed, the others wouldn't be able to keep up. Besides, we're not too far off now".<p>

Sonic looked back at the others. Calvin, Hobbes, Rex, Eddy and Michael were lagging behind a little, while Nightwing, Mantis, Viper, Crane and Monkey didn't seem tired at all. They had been walking for some time.

As much as he hated to admit it, in a world where time shifted like a stormy sea, Sonic needed help. Without Tails' technological expertise,  
>dealing with complex machinery had caused problems for him until he met Rex, a sixteen-year-old amnesiac with a body full of nanomachines.<br>As well as being a strong combatant, he was able to create machines out of his body and interface directly with any machines they happened to encounter.

Eddy, a young con artist, was another helpful ally. Though he was selfish and greedy most of the time, his schemes and scams had gotten them out of a couple of scrapes, though they had initially only let him join them reluctantly.

Another reluctant addition to their group was Calvin, a six-year-old boy who had tagged along with them initially against their will, and his stuffed tiger companion, Hobbes. Though at first they had assumed Hobbes was just an ordinary toy and that Calvin was only pretending he was alive, it soon turned out he was animate, but only when alone or in the company of only Calvin, and now, somehow, Sonic, Eddy and Rex  
>too.<p>

They had gotten into a few sticky situations with just the five of them, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle.

That was, until Blackheart and Inferno.

The two demonic entities had demolished Sonic and Rex in combat. Inferno and Rex fought in a similar way, forming weapons from their own bodies, but Inferno's weapons cut through Rex's machines with ease, and Sonic's speed wasn't enough to keep him from Blackheart's immense powers. They were about to move on to Hobbes, Calvin and Eddy when help arrived. Michael, a skilled tactician with high-tech weapons, had managed to hold them off for just long enough before Superman and his allies found them. Even then, it was a hard-fought battle; Superman, usually able to rely on his near-invulnerability in a fight, was nearly defeated early on by the two as he had no defence against their magic-based attacks, and his allies, while skilled, had no true superhuman powers, but Michael's tactics, Superman's immense physical strength and flight and Sonic's speed eventually won them the battle.

Eventually, they reached the town in which the meeting they would be attending was taking place. A mysterious being by the name of "Bigby  
>Wolf" had invited them along to a meeting of some kind, planning to obtain some kind of ancient temporal artifact (the "Staff of the<br>Future", whatever that was) and overthrow an evil king.

They booked into a hotel (the only one in the town that allowed pets), Superman and Nightwing in ordinary clothes and going by the names  
>Clark Kent and Dick Grayson respectively. Sonic was surprised Superman could look so ordinary out of his superhero identity.<p>

Late at night, "Clark" heard a knock on his room door, and opened it to find Michael, a laptop under his arm.  
>"Um, could I talk to you a second?" he asked. "It's about the guys who we're supposed to be meeting".<p>

"Sure", said Clark. "Come in".  
>Michael did so and went on, speaking quietly so as not to be overheard. "I looked up all I could about any of the guys going to this meeting, and..."<br>"And what did you find?" asked Clark.  
>"They all seem pretty shady. A master thief called Arséne Lupin III, he was behind no end of robberies, a mercenary called Deadpool, who's<br>a complete psychopath, a Christian fanatic known only as "The Preacher" who's taken part in numerous illegal vehicle deathmatches, there's even a guy known as Dante who's rumoured to be a demon!"  
>"Perhaps I should have done a background check on them before we agreed to meet them", said Clark to himself. "Aren't there any of them who aren't that bad?"<br>"There's a young Belgian reporter who goes by the name of Tintin, seems to end up in no end of trouble, but he could be corrupt, inventing these stories and passing them off as fact for money or worse, causing these problems in the first place so he has material to write about. There's also a young superhuman called Dashiell Parr, or "Dash". As his name suggests, his power is superhuman speed, possibly even to Sonic's level. He seems innocent enough, but they could be bringing him into this by force, hidden their true nature from him or under some kind of bargain. But it gets worse".

"How?" asked Clark.  
>"The ones behind it, Bigby and his cronies, are the worst of the bunch. Trafalgar Law, one of his right-hand men, is a wanted pirate. He has some kind of special power that lets him control his environment, and he uses it for chopping people into pieces. There's Lord Shen, I'm sure the Furious Four have told you about him; there's some kind of shapeshifting being, it's impossible to tell who that is but I have heard of all manner of terrible shapeshifters responsible for some terrible acts. And Bigby himself... He's a mystery, no-one knows anything about him, except he's immortal, immensely strong and rumoured to be the actual Big Bad Wolf of the fairy tales".<br>"So what are you proposing we do? Run? Go there to fight them?"  
>"I don't know", said Michael. "We can't let them get away with this.<br>If that staff is as powerful as they say, they could do terrible things with it. But we can't get the others involved, they'll just get themselves killed".  
>"I'll go there and fight them", said Clark. "Alone".<br>"Are you sure you can handle them by yourself?"  
>"I'll be fine", he said. "But if I don't come back, get the others out of here".<p>

*****

"Oh, good, everyone's here?" asked Bigby as Lupin, Dante, Deadpool, Po, Tigress, Tintin, Zig-zag, the Preacher, Dash, Klaus, Namah, Taokaka and Law entered the conference room Bigby had booked.

Bigby and Kurt were the only ones present already. Bigby had sent Shen on a special mission, and Rainbow Dash was helping Tobias gather up new forms. Just as well, because it looked as though Po and Tigress had come along. That was just what they needed right now, bitter enemies brought in on the same plan.  
>Still, it seemed that the invitations he had sent out had had some success here. Still no sign of that "Nightwing" guy he had heard recommended, or the supersonic hedgehog, although to be fair, with the addition of Dash he wasn't strictly necessary...<br>"I assume you've all heard the basics from Trafalgar. Galbatorix rules over a large empire, easily the largest within an observable timeframe. In his own timezone he already ruled a large empire in Alegesia, but with access to time fractures and some powerful friends he's gathered from other times, he expanded it to include areas of other worlds. He's taken over parts of Middle Earth including several iterations of Mordor, most of Skyrim, nearly all the Forgotten Worlds, about half of Pulse, Kanto, Johto and dozens of other countries and worlds besides".  
>"When you say "worlds", do you mean other planets?" asked Tintin.<p>

"Sort of", said Kurt. "Some versions of the timeline have multiple interconnected miniature planets referred to as Worlds. Moving between them is done via small spaceships, portals or dozens of other methods. Some of the larger worlds he has taken over are probably differently-named alternate versions of Earth though".  
>"How are we supposed to take an Instrument from someone who rules an empire so huge?" said Klaus. "The resources alone he'd have access to would allow him to set up practically insurmountable defences, the best guards he could muster up..."<br>"And guarding an Instrument would require nothing but the best in defences", said Bigby. "That's why we've got Lupin. If anyone can get  
>in and out in one piece, it'd be him. With some help, of cour..."<br>He was interrupted as something burst through the wall, shaking the building.  
>"Party's over, Bigby", said Superman as he walked into the room.<p> 


	31. Enemies?

_**My beta-reader, StrangePointOfView, is back! Hooray!**_

"There was a perfectly good door." Bigby snarled.

But Superman ignored him. "I heard the truth about you." He said, walking towards them. Kurt was about to stand up but he was effortlessly flung aside. "About all of you. The thief, the demon, the psychopathic assassin, the tyrant..."

"You only think that about them because someone's only told you half the st..." began Bigby, but he was interrupted when a throwing knife flew out of nowhere and hit Superman in the head. It rebounded off of him, doing him no harm.

_Of all the times for Shen to get back..._ thought Bigby, spinning around to see the dawning expression of horror on Shen's face.

No sooner had Shen shown flung his weapon, than Po and Tigress ran at him.

Po came in with a punch while Tigress leapt to the side, leaping off a wall and launching into a flying kick. Shen dodged around their attacks, and slashed at Tigress with a handful of knives which she narrowly ducked under. Shen was having trouble dodging the two of them.

Until a somewhat familiar falcon flew down, it's wing brushing for a split-second against Superman's arm on its way past, to land beside Shen, transforming in midair into a huge furry yellow and black creature that crackled with electricity.

"What is that thing?" Tigress yelped, leaping back as it swung at her with an electrified fist.

"The falcon must be some kind of shapeshifter," said Klaus. "It's using the form of an Electivire, a powerful electricity-based species of monster."

"That's right." Tobias thought, his voice penetrating their minds. "Now calm down, I don't like it when animals attack my friend."

Shen's eyes were darting back and forth between Bigby, Po, Superman, and Tigress, but when Tobias said that his eyes went to him. "You… think of me as a friend?" He asked.

From the look on his face, you'd think he never had a friend before.

"Birds of a feather, right?" Tobias asked, electricity crackling in his mitts.

Several subtle emotions flickered over Shen's face. Then, without another word, he swept his wing, sending a spray of feather-shaped daggers abroad. With an elegant twirl of his robe he fled, as everyone except Superman and Tobias ducked for cover.

Tigress evaluated her options. "Po!" She instructed. "Keep the shapeshifter busy! I'll go after Shen."

"No need." Superman said. "I'll –" What he would have said was cut off, as Bigby grabbed him by th arm, and threw him against the wall.

As Tigress charged, and Po began to sumersault over Tobias, Superman climbed out of the rubble. With speed faster than even the Big Bad Wolf, he had Bigby pinned against the wall.

"It'll take more than that to kill me." Supermand said. "And unless you have any more friends to come help you while you distract me, I think you'll be better off with the truth."

"I see." Bigby grunted. "You lose a man's trust, and it takes time to build it back up. But I don't have the time right now." Lashing out, Bigby kicked Superman in the stomach. The Kryptonian recoiled a step back, a chance Bigby took to punch him in the face, knocking him to the floor.

As Superman got to his feet, Bigby took a huff and a puff from his cigarette. Superman was about to attack again, until he felt the barrel of a pistol of some kind pressed against his head.

"Don't think for a second you'll survive this like you did that knife." Dante said.

But the Man of Steel moved before he could blink. He swatted Ebony from Dante's hand effortlessly, sent him flying into a wall with a single punch. "Do any more of your friends want a piece of me?"

"Stay out of this, Dante." Growled Bigby. "I'll handle the big guy. You get the others out of here. Something else is coming, I can smell it."

Dante got to his feet as Bigby dodged to the side of a red beam fired from Superman's eyes, burning a hole through the wall just behind where Bigby had been standing. Fables ran on the popularity of one's story. Bigby was THE Big Bad Wolf. But he had a feeling Superman was a legend in his own time too.

"Now, Dante!" Shouted Bigby, moments before Superman flew at him and checked him through the wall.

Po ducked under a Thunderpunch, before punching the collosal yellow and black beast in the stomach. Tobias quickly realized that while his Electivire form could dish out powerful melée attacks, lightning and other projectiles, it wasn't nearly as good at taking them, while Po seemed to be at least partially immune to electric attacks.

He noticed a chest of drawers nearby. The fight had crashed through a number of rooms, and now it appeared they were in a hotel bedroom. There was no-one here now, but there were clothes in the wardrobe. Perhaps he could try out a more humanoid form...

He quickly returned to his falcon form and flew into the wardrobe. "Come back and fight like a… monster, eagle, thing?" Po asked. He shrugged, and ran into the closet.

It was dark. Po rummaged around through the closet, looking for any sign of either eagle or lightning monster. And so he missed the signs of a shadow rising behind him.

A part eagle part man was rising from the floor, rapidly losing his eagle features in favor of the man. As he rose, he buttoned up his shirt, tightened his pants, and made himself more presentable.

Po turned, and Superman's body wiped a forlock of hair from the front of his face.

Dante begrudgingly led Deadpool, Lupin, Jigen, Law, Kurt, Tintin, Zig-zag, Klaus, Dash, the Preacher, Namah and Taokaka down the stairs.

"It just doesn't make sense," said Klaus to himself. "I've read about that man who just attacked us. They say he's a hero, a symbol of hope to millions. Why would he..."

"Maybe it was the peacock?" said Jigen. "He could have tricked him that we were evil. Po and Tigress certainly seem to hate him."

"He may have a shady past, but Shen has been working with us recently." Kurt said. "I believe he can be redeemed. Besides, Superman mentioned at the start of the fight that he knew us. The first time Shen saw him, he threw a knife at him. If Shen he met Superman before, there's no way throwing a knife would have made any sense, and Shen's cunning if nothing else."

"Yeah, why'd he do that?" asked Dash, trying hard not to leave the others in the dust by accident. "It wasn't exactly good for Bigby's argument..."

"He came into the room seeing a man who had just blown through the wall threatening his ally." Kurt said, defending him. "Throwing a knife at him was maybe a bit far, but not completely unjustif... Where are the others?"

The group looked around to see no sign of Trafalgar, Zig-zag, Taokaka, the Preacher, Lupin or Jigen.

"We must have crossed a time crack at some point on the staircase." Said Tintin, examing the dust on the ground where their teammate's footprints disappeared. "Either a small one, or one that suddenly closed after we were through."

"They never close that fast." Klaus said.

"Also, what's that glowing in Tintin's bag?" Asked Dash. Tintin reached in to recover the gauntlet, now glowing gold. A panel on the back had fallen off, revealing a series of symbols.

"What are they?" asked Kurt.

"I think something might be sealed in here." Tintin said, his eyes growing wide. After a moment of concentrated thinking, he started performing a series of hand signs. "A young ninja once taught me a little about the techniques used in the elemental countries. I think this gauntlet might..."

In a puff of smoke, a sarcophagus, similar to the ones Lupin and the others were suspended in back in the temple, was revealed. In one of it's hands was a familiar golden sword.

"Excellently done Tintin." Said a nasally yet sinister voice. "This explains where the gauntlet's power comes from."

Dogbert walked out of the shadows around the now-abandoned reception desk.

Deadpool immediately fired a spray of bullets at him, only for Wesley to round the corner and shoot the bullets out of the air. Sweet Tooth, Vergil and Razor dropped down from the ceiling, standing protectively in front of Dogbert.

"Give me the sword, and you won't be hurt." Dogbert said calmly.

Rainbow Dash laughed. "You think we'll hand over the sword that easy? There's still six of us, and only four of your lame bodyguards!"

Sigma and Murlough crashed through the front doors. As they swung open, they were followed by a collection of enhanced Dantinis and Cobra troops.

"I amend my earlier statement." Dogbert said. "Hand over the sword right now, and you might just make it out of here alive".

"I found Superman." Said Michael, typing on his laptop. His group had awaken to find Superman, Nightwing and Sonic missing, and Michael had wasted no time in hacking nearby CCTV networks to find them. "But it doesn't look good. He attacked the group we were planning to meet."

"What!?" Cried Rex. "He wouldn't..."

"See for yourself." Michael said, turning the screen, showing the CCTV footage. The sound was absent but they saw the man they had trusted attacking their would-be allies.

"Maybe those guys were the bad guys?" Calvin asked hopefully.

"No." Mantis said as another piece of CCTV recording played, showing Clark wearing a hastily put on suit, quickly subduing Tigress and Po. "These weren't our enemies."

"It must be a fake", said Eddy. "People can fake videos so easily these days. Someone's trying to frame him."

"It wasn't a trick." said a voice. Everyone turned to see Sonic returning with a grim expression.

"Where were you?" Asked Rex. "And what do you mean it wasn't a trick?"

"I heard something last night and looked out my window to see him flying off. He took an awkward route, so I didn't get there until he'd been there for a little while, but I saw him fight Po and Tigress".

"He's been playing us for fools." Michael said.

"What will we do?" Asked Monkey. "None of us are strong enough to beat him".

"Maybe not individually..." Michael looked up from the screen with a thoughtful expression. "I found an unusual outfit awhile back. I didn't think anything of it, or mention it to anyone, because I couldn't get it to work. The suit's supposed allow the wearer to temporarily absorb allies and take on some of their power and skills."

"Does it really work?" asked Viper.

"Theoretically, but it would require a supply of energy. Preferably magical, but maybe something else could work." Micheal shook his head. "I tried the suit on myself, but I didn't have a power source. Sorry for not mentioning it earlier."

Sonic produced a glowing gem with a mischievous grin. "One of the seven Chaos Emeralds. They're all incredibly powerful. I've been searching for them but this is the only one I could find. Maybe with my speed, Rex's nanites and the skill of four of the Furious Five, we can take him down".

"It's made for a human so me or Rex'll have to wear it." Michael said.

Rex nodded. "I'll wear it." he said. "Even with a Chaos Emerald, our time is limited. I reckon the more people we fuse, the less time we have".

Michael nodded in agreement. "I was going to recommend you for the job anyway." He handed the outfit to Rex. Rex hastily put on the suit, fumbling through the motions in his haste. When he was finished, Sonic gave him the Chaos Emerald and he inserted it into a compartment on the suit's back.

For a moment, there was nothing. Then, with a sound like shattering glass and a blinding flash of light, Sonic, Monkey, Viper, Crane and Mantis vanished. Rex was now wearing a long Sonic-blue coat with an oriental-style pattern on it.

He looked back at Michael, Calvin and Hobbes before dashing off.

Calvin and Hobbes cheered. "Go get him you guys!" Eddie cried.

'Michael' grinned.

"I thought he'd never leave." He said, turning to Calvin with a calm smile. Then he drew a gun.

His expression had changed so frighteningly, that he no longer looked like the same person. Calvin balked at the expressionless 'Micheal.'

"You're all such fools." Johann said, shaking his head. "I just 'happen' to have a suit that can merge them if they waste their most powerful artifact to power it up. Superman just 'happens' to believe that his allies are his enemies… who told him that I wonder? The two most powerful members are going to fight each other, and no matter which one wins, at least I know that the suit I gave Rex is lined with anti-matter explosives. The living nanite factory, the mutant hedgehog that can outrun bullets, and five talking animals who know martial arts. All obstacles. All gone. And me alone in the room with a pair of children, one of whom hasn't even gone through puberty. It usually isn't so easy. I usually have to work at it. But you all played right into my hands… it feels rather sad."

Eddie was still stunned, as 'Micheal' hemmed and hawed, twisting the gun against Calvin's temple thoughtfully. "Still, Nightwing's still out there. And Superman might survive. You'll make a good hostage when he comes back. But maybe I'll kill you anyway. It doesn't really matter…"

Calvin was scared out of his mind now. His breath was coming out in heaves. Eddie decided to make a valiant effort to reason with him. "B-b-but Michael, you..."

"Michael? That was never my real name. To tell you the truth..."

"...It's Johan. Johan Liebert"


	32. Tale of Tintin, Lupin and the Wolf 4

Instruments of Time 32

One moment, Lupin had been running down stairs for the exit of a building. The next, he suddenly found himself in a forest of some kind. There was no sign of any of the others, and the trees didn't look like modern trees.

But he didn't have long to look at them, as he heard the all-too-familiar sound of a gun being cocked behind him. Along with... was that electricity?

"Don't move." Said an angry voice. "Who are you? Name yourself."

"Arséne Lupin the Third, at your service." He answered cheerfully. He didn't see much point lying at this stage. If they weren't going to shoot them, he'd need a friend or two. IF they were going to shoot him, he wanted them to know his name.

"I've heard a little about this man." Said a deeper voice. "He's supposed to be the world's greatest thief."

"That's me." Lupin, giving them a jaunty salute. Out of sight the others, he pressed a button on his watch.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Asked the first voice, still suspicious.

"How about a little quid pro quo first?" Lupin asked. "I've already answered one of your questions after all. But I have some questions of my own."

The man paused for a moment, surprised at the nonchalant tone, and the way he'd demand answers from the man pointing the gun at his back. "You're in no position to be making deals."

"I have answers you want, you have answers I want." Lupin said. "I think I'm in the perfect position to be making deals."

There was a faint rustling sound that sounded like they were gesturing to each other. Lupin counted probably four of them. For a moment, he was afraid they were going to try to kill him. He made sure not to breathe a sigh of relief when Mr. Angry said; "Fine. Ask away".

"Where are we?" Asked Lupin. And then, gambling on them being in the same situation he was in, added; "And perhaps it would be appropriate to include a 'when' in that 'where."

"Mid-Jurassic period Laurasia." Said the second voice. "Latest territory added to King Galbatorix's ever-expanding empire..."

* * *

><p>"Hand over the sword right now, and you might just make it out of here alive".<p>

Tintin, Klaus, Namah, Dash, Kurt, Dante, Rainbow Dash and Deadpool glanced around at the horde of enhanced Dantinis and Cobra troops surrounding them.

"What do we do?" Whispered Tintin to the others. "I can't see much hope of us getting out of this if we do as he says, and even less if we don't. Kurt, can you teleport us out of here?"

Kurt shook his head. "Not all at once. Besides, if can't see where I'm teleporting to, bad things can happen and there's always the risk of..."

Everybody suddenly froze where they were as Deadpool pulled the sword from the sarcophagus' hand and walk over to Dogbert, holding it out to the bespectacled dog.

"You're giving us the sword?" said Dogbert, equally suspicious and mocking of anyone who would actually give in to his demands so easily.

But as he reached for the sword, Sigma's chest burst open and what appeared to be an armoured car made of his components forced its way out of the wound.

The timing of the distraction was perfect. As Dogbert averted his four-eyes, Deadpool flung the sword at Sigma, only for Wesley to draw his guns faster than sound and fired a pair of bullets, knocking the sword towards him, pinned on the ground, right next to a Dantini.

Dante and Kurt had drawn their swords, and, along with Namah and Rainbow Dash, they began to fend off the Dantinis and Cobra Troops. Dash moves forward with a blur, snatching up the sword before anyone else could lay a hand on it, and rushing off it back to Klaus and Tintin.

And in the midst of all the commotion, Dante and Vergil faced off.

"What was the point of that?" Deadpool asked, turning to Wesley and drawing his "doorknobs". "You saw what happened there. Whatever you do, SOMEONE'S going to stab him with the timey sword."

"It won't be you." Wesley said. "Because soon you'll be dead." He'd been waiting for this. There was only room in the multiverse for one 'world's greatest assassin'.

Tintin and Klaus hurriedly tried to figure out how to open the sarcophagus as Dash stood guard over them the sword.

"What are you doing with that? We're under attack!" Dash yelled. While he was fast enough to block stray bullets and lazers, and the sword strong enough to take hits, his arms were beginning to get sore.

"Whoever left the sword in the gauntlet didn't throw in a two-ton sarcophagus for no reason!" Tintin explained. "We have to figure out what it…"

In the blink of an eye, the purple-skinned man previously standing near the door (Murlough, was it?) leaped away from Namah, and landed solidly on the heavy coffin. Tintin yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards, as Murlough advanced eyes bright, claws sharp…

CLANG!

The only thing stopping him slicing Tintin to ribbons was Dash, blocking his claws with the Sword of Timelines.

"You seem pretty fast." Dash said in a sing-song tone. "But I'm faster!"

Murlough didn't bother replying to this, gripping the blade and easily swinging the gold sword. It sent Dash flying, creating a crater in a brick wall. But before Murlough could even move his grip on the sword to the hilt rather than the blade, Dash came speeding in. Still out of breath, he feebly chucked pieces of brick at Murlough at speeds only slightly slower than bullets. Running out of bricks, Dash took one last attempt at catching his breath before dashing into the fray. He emerged with a sword pilfered from an Uruk-Hai about to take a stab at Kurt, and swung it like a home run hitter.

Murlough quickly blocked the slash with the Instrument. But the speed the attack was delivered at translated into power; and he was still holding the sword by its blade. With a scream, Murlough dropped the sword, and several of his own fingers. Dash wasted no time in once again retrieving the sword and passing it to Klaus, before dropping weakly to his knees.

Murlough bit back his cries, and glared at them. "You'll pay for that!" He snapped, mercilessly slashing down a Razor-Dantini with his remaining clawed hand and taking its transforming blade. "You! Will! Pay!"

Dogbert turned to a small group of Dantinis and pointed to the injured Sigma. "Get him back to headquarters and patch him up with our Cybertron tech." He ordered, turning to Sweet Tooth and Razor. "Mr Kane, Razor, retrieve me my Instrument."

Razor nodded, walking towards the sarcophagus.

"So this is who you were working for?" Asked Dante, as he and Bergil furiously struggled. "Who'd have thought that you of all people would be taking orders from a cute little doggy..."

"His results speak for themselves, brother." Vergil muttered, looking to Razor as the cyborg drew a large red sword.

The sword glowed was huge and looked strangely fleshy, and it glowed with an eerie red light. But the strangest thing about it was the single eye, located directly in the center of the hilt, currently looking around the room. Somehow that sword managed to draw more dread than even the deranged demon clown with the flaming head also approaching the group by the sarcophagus.

"Soul Edge." Klaus whispered, an unmistakable tone of dread on his voice. He had read about this blade and the destruction and corruption that followed in its wake.

"Get the sword and the sarcophagus out of here!" Rainbow Dash yelled. She smirked, and gave to Sigma's armored car an evaluating look. "We'll catch up".

Tintin reluctantly nodded as Namah loaded the sarcophagus into the back of the truck with her Ether Tendrils. Kurt started up the motor (the "key" already seemed to be in the ignition) and drove straight out of the building as soon as Namah, Klaus and Tintin were on board, not even noticing the boy in the blue coat dash past on their way out...

Sweet Tooth and Razor ran to the exit, only to be bucked in the face. Rainbow Dash blocked their path, grinning like a kid on Christmas.

"Razor, deal with the pony." Dogbert said, walking around them and heading for Sweet Tooth's weaponized ice-cream van. "Mr. Kane, we have an armored car to catch".

* * *

><p>"So why is Galbatorix interested in the Jurassic?" Asked Lupin as the group continued through the ancient forest. The four people who he had run into had introduced themselves as Cole McGrath, a bike messenger turned superhuman with electrokinesis amongst other powers, John Marshton, a gunfighter from the old West, Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter, and an amphibious newt-man (Argonian, he insisted) known as the Dragonborn, a skilled warrior who used an axe and a mysterious power known as the Voice.<p>

They had long since abandoned the pretense of playing' quid pro quo' with their questions. Lupin had just started smoothly adding question after question, until they'd forgot entirely that they had questions of their own. They were still behind him, John with his weapon drawn, but Lupin imagined that he would never use it.

"No idea." Said the Dragonborn. "It's not like he can even use the land around here for building, what with all the dinosaurs."

"Dinosaurs?" Lupin asked in mock fear. "Should I be worried?"

"We should be safe if we can just get back to the base camp." Said Nathan.

"Base camp?" Asked Lupin. "I thought the land couldn't be used for building?"

"It's only accessible through a time crack." Nathan explained. "We've got a few allies around here. There's a small rebel faction against Galbatorix there."

Lupin nodded, thoughtfully. "It's strange that I should end up in Galbatorix's domain by random chance." He said, deciding to throw them a bone and see if they gnawed it. "Given that I was just with a group planning to rob him before I fell thro..."

He was interrupted by an unfamiliar sound and turned around just in time to see a strange beast that was clearly no dinosaur run at the group. Its entire body was obscured by shadows, fur and what appeared to be glowing red eyes. It seed to be shrouded in shadow regardless of whether it stood in the sunlight or in the shade.

John was the first to strike, shooting at it with his revolver, but the bullets did nothing to it. The beast sent him flying into a tree with a single punch before dashing towards Lupin.

Just as it got within killing distance, preparing to tear him apart with its claws, the Dragonborn's voice rang out through the forest.

"Fus... RO DAH!" It shouted, sending the beast flying back as a wave of force hit it.

The Dragonborn quickly grabbed Lupin and John and ran, followed by Cole and Nathan. The creature was much faster than them. They never had a chance of outrunning it. But fortunately, they knew the terrain.

They made it through a time crack just in time, arriving outside a well-fortified, but abandoned, medieval castle. They quickly ran inside and barred the door.

"What was that thing?" asked John.

"Certainly no dinosaur, that's for sure." said Nathan.

The doors bucked as the beast ran into it.

Lupin said nothing. He knew that creature. Though it was hard to make out with the strange shadows surrounding him and the many red-eyed sluglike creatures crawling over his body, he had a good look when the creature had gotten close, and there was no mistaking it.

It was Stitch.

* * *

><p>Superman sent Bigby flying back with another punch, but he managed to get back to his feet as Superman walked towards him again. "Now tell me, what was it you were plotting to do at that meeting before I arrived?" Asked the man of steel. "And why did you invite me to it?"<p>

"I was planning to retrieve an Instrument of Time from the hands of a tyrant who has probably already used it countless times for evil purposes and will no doubt continue to do so." Bigby explained. Superman's shock and suspicion was obvious. "I keep telling you, we don't have to fight. I'm on your side."

Before Superman could reply, he was hit by a blue blur of some kind. The hit didn't seem to do much to him, but the blur was back before he could blink, hitting him again and again from every angle. He flew into the air to try to avoid it or at least see what it was, but it flew up after him and grabbed his leg, spinning itself into a tornado that threw Superman off course, crashing into the ground several streets away from where he had been fighting Bigby. As the two got up, he saw who it was.

"Rex?"

_**The exams that were preventing me continuing my stories are now over; you can expect a quicker update schedule from now on.**_

_**A friend of mine, StrangePointOfView, has just started a story with a similar "readers choose the characters" concept as Instruments of Time. Its title is FateQuattro, and I have reason to believe it's going to be good, you might like to check it out (even if you know nothing about Fate/stay night, as most if not all of the elements of that present are explained in the first chapter).**_


	33. Tale of Tintin, Lupin and the Wolf 5

Hobbes ran out of the building, avoiding being seen by anyone along the way. He had to find someone, anyone, who could help them now.

Michael - no, Johan - had Calvin and Eddie at gunpoint. Rex, Sonic and the Furious Four were probably miles away by now and fighting Superman, not to mention rigged to explode, and there was probably no-one else out there who would see him as anything other than a lost toy.

As he slipped into the strangely-deserted main foyer of the hotel, he became vaguely aware that this hotel was remarkably similar to the hotel Superman, Rex and the others went to. He didn't have time to pursue this line of thought, though, as a stranger entered the room from another stairwell. A girl with cat ears and long braided hair in a hooded coat that obscured her face except for red eyes and pointy teeth.

"Hat guy? Poofy-tail?" The girl asked, looking around the room. "Book guy? Snaky lady? Fasto? Where is everyone?"

The shadows in the corners of the room were beginning to act strangely, becoming darker and moving erratically. Then they began rising from the ground, developing features such as arms and legs, heads and bodies, claws and antennae. Yellow eyes opened. Swordlike blades emerged from the slots in Taokaka's gloves as the creatures leapt.

"What are these things?" asked Taokaka, slicing down the creatures with ease, but more kept coming in an ever-increasing selection of forms.

Johan watched the chaos his laptop, briefly sending a message to his personal Dantini unit to deal with anything that came up to his floor. He wondered how the toy tiger Calvin had been holding before had made it downstairs. It was probably his imagination, but one could never be too careful.

Opening up another window, he saw the fight in the alternate hotel's foyer was still going on. There was no sign of Razor or the pegasus, but Dante, Vergil, Deadpool, Wesley, Dash and Murlough were still locked in combat.

"L-listen, Johan, buddy -"

Johan ignored Eddie. It was looking as though Dogbert's choice in allies was paying off, if only just. The speedster kid was beginning to tire, while Murlough showed no signs of injury except for his fingers on one hand being missing. Deadpool was now thoroughly filled with bullets, though from what Johan had heard of Deadpool he would probably get back up fairly soon. Dante's battle with Vergil was looking even. If any of his enemies managed to defeat Dogbert's new mercenaries, the legions of Dantinis and Uruk-Hai would finish them off.

Still, he would keep his gun held here, pointed evenly at Calvin's head, until the opportunity he was waiting for presented itself.

"Fool." said a voice behind Johan. He looked round as a woman stepped out of a roaring green fire behind him. She wore a long black dress and carried a staff of some kind, and she appeared to have horns and green skin. With a simple gesture from her staff, the gun flew from Johan's hand, not that he looked bothered by it. "You seem to be under the illusion that you and your allies are in control of the situation."

"You seem to be under the illusion that you're not under any illusions." Johan replied with a smile.

"We're dead." Eddie moaned.

Wesley looked up from Deadpool just in time to see the newcomer.

"Chidori Stream!" the stranger cried, placing one hand on the ground. Electricity flowed across the tiled floor, surging around the Dantinis and Uruk-hai (and Deadpool). The assassin quickly pulled off Deadpool's teleportation device and teleported to a higher balcony, while Dash managed to pull Dante out of the room just in time to escape the blast.

Now he had a better look at him, Wesley could see that the attacker was just a kid, no older than sixteen. He had black hair and wore a grey and black outfit. The thing that really caught his attention, though, was his eyes. With the red and black patterns on them, they didn't even look human.

Murlough, meanwhile, leapt at the boy. With his flitting speed he reached him in a split-second, but somehow the boy was still faster, drawing a sword and cutting the vampanese's right arm off so fast Wesley was barely able to keep track of it. He would have killed him had Vergil not stepped in and deflected the blade.

"Who are you working for?" asked Vergil.

"How do you think Dogbert got his paws on the location this meeting would be taking part in?" asked the horned woman. "The King knew of a plan to steal the staff from him, so he led the enemies of the conspirators right to them, reducing their numbers considerably and making them easy to destroy. As well as recover any of those who appear useful."

"I'm guessing you're still recruiting..." Johan said, smiling lightly at this new opportunity.

Two of the shadow creatures from downstairs rose out of the ground, grabbing the now bound Calvin and carrying him away into the flames and vanishing.

"Calvin!" Eddie leaped to save him, but he was too slow. The witch cackled maniacally, pointing at him as if he were a clown.

Johan took note of certain things she had said - or, more accurately, hadn't said. From what she had said, the goal here was to destroy any resistance before it reached this king's borders. No mention of the Sword was made whatsoever. And why did Calvin "appear useful"?

"What did you do to him!?" Eddie asked.

"She 'recruited him'." Johan said with a smile.

"Your schemes are cunning enough, but there are already easily enough schemers in our alliance." Said the Witch, confirming his guess with a mocking tone. "We have no need of you." Dozens more of the shadow creatures rose up around the room. She began walking back into the flames. "I shall leave you to the mercy of the Heartless."

Johan closed his eyes, and smiled faintly. He knew very well the mercies of those without hearts. He'd given such mercies before.

"Underlings rarely do more than what is asked for." Johan said. "As you well know, witch."

The woman stopped.

"When you first arrived here, I figured you for a leader. But it turns out you're just this king's pawn. I'm slightly disappointed."

He smiled at her, with kindly eyes. Those eyes had manipulated the many gullible ignorants, and intimidated those who knew who he was. It was a rare breed that knew who he was and could see the false kindliness without flinching. It was much more infrequent to find someone who knew who he was and thought they were superior to him. They thought the kindly eyes were irritating.

"I was mistaken to believe a child's kidnapper could be a leader." He said, aware at the hypocrisy of his lies. "But I believe in Die and let Die. I don't see why you would want to hurt me, when we could be friends. I could go your way, and you could go mine, and we could meet together once in a while for a nice beer."

The witch glared at him with disgust. "Your attempt to get me to reveal Calvin's importance is just slightly more transparent than your attempts to manipulate my emotions." She spat.

She fired a blast of energy from her staff. It disintegrated the out layer of Johan's "Michael" disguise, revealing a coat covered in ancient-looking runes. The runes glowed as the bolt hit the coat, rebounding off it and hitting the sorceress, sending her flying backwards into the wall and disintegrating the gathered Heartless. Eddie took a blow to the head against a gas pipe, and went limp.

"When manipulating emotions, transparency doesn't matter." Said Johan, almost in a bored tone. "It's a shame though. This armor is covered in the finest magic-reflecting runes forged in the Dwarven hold of Karak Kadrin. I had intended to use it as protection in case Saruman or Blackheart turned against us, but sometimes fate decides to put a fool in her place."

"You insolent little..." She began, staggering to her feet and wiping green blood from her mouth. Johan's gun bursting into green flames and melting over the floor as she got back to her feet, but a ringing sound like a mobile phone, stopped her.

It rang again, and two enemies stared across the field of battle.

"I'm not the one who started this fight." Johan shrugged, turning his back to her to look out the window, serenely massaging his forehead with the gun. "Go ahead and answer that."

The witch took out a handheld device and irritatingly pressed a button.

"I would advise you to get out of there." Said a voice from the device. Whoever it was, sounded, they sounded like a mob boss, perhaps? "The king is going to use the Instrument to wipe out the copy Plates soon. Don't want to be wiped out with them, do you Mal?"

The witch cursed the nickname under her breath before closing the device.

"I knew the Staff did more than just see the future." Said Johan. He turned around, and calmly picked up the woman's scepter, as if weighing it in his hand, completely ignoring the witch's impotent fury.

The witch smiled, like she was the keeper of a good joke's punchline. "You seem clever enough. So I'll let you in on how the Staff of the Future works. Let's see how useful that information is to a deadman's mind. In the hands of the weak, the staff merely shows the future of a given place or being. A more powerful wielder, however, can use it to leave their mark on any given place, any temporal Plate. Once a Plate is marked, they can connect it to any other marked plate, and even make temporal duplicates of it."

"Hence the two identical hotels." Johan nodded. "I take it they can destroy these copies just as easily?"

"Of course," continued the witch. "When we received word of a plan to steal the Instrument, we ensured that the meetings for it were held in a prearranged copy of one of our existing Plates. Then we could destroy our enemies with ease".

"It is starting already." She said, with obvious relish. "If you want to live you must act fast."

Johan considered. Then, with a kindly smile, he handed the staff back to the witch. "Thank you for telling me how important Calvin is."

She glared, and snatched the staff from his hand. "You are doomed Johan!" She cackled as she disappeared in a burst of flames. "Doomed to the fires of HELL!"

Johan watched her go with a smile. Then slipped the safety onto his gun, and picked up his laptop.

He paused briefly, remembering Eddie, unconscious. He wondered whether the blow killed Eddie, or if he was merely out. He pondered whether it might be more amusing to bring him along, prey on his hope that by surviving together he could get Johan to 'bond' with him. To 'change'. Johan mentally shrugged. He didn't really care on way or the other. He walked out the door, leaving the uncouth buffoon for dead.

Back in the foyer, a swirling vortex appeared behind the boy with the red and black eyes. He seemed to be hearing something from an earpiece. "Understood." He said, looking up.

"This whole place is about to be wiped out." He said, stepping back into the vortex. "If you plan on living any longer, you should get moving".

"Before you go, I have one question." Vergil said with respect. "Who are you?"

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha." Replied the boy, bowing.

"I look forward to fighting you some day, Sasuke Uchiha." Said Vergil, before Sasuke vanished completely.

Vergil looked back at Wesley and Murlough. "You heard the man, let's move out!"

Swerving to the side, Kurt dodged another shot of Sweet Tooth's ice cream cone missile. He saw the semitransparent wall of multicolored light before him grow steadily more opaque, and realized they wouldn't get there before it went completely solid. He somehow knew when it did, it would be completely impenetrable.

"Everyone grab hold of the sarcophagus!" he shouted, grabbing the stone sarcophagus himself. The moment they did, he teleported them all, aiming for the other side of the wall...

...and the four of them found themselves in a deep jungle of some kind.

Dodging another strike from Soul Edge, Rainbow Dash noticed the sky begin to fade into a strange multicoloured haze, cutting off like a wall somewhere in the distance.

"Rainbow Dash, we have to get out of here NOW!" Bigby called, limping round a corner. The fight with Superman had clearly taken its toll on him. Following him were Shen and Tobias.

"You're not going anywhere." Said Razor, raising the demonic sword above his head. Blades began to emerge from all over his body as it took on a red glow like Soul Edge itself. Gigantic blades shot from the ground around them to form an arena-like circle around Razor, Rainbow Dash, Bigby, Shen and Tobias.

"We don't have time for this!" shouted Bigby as the wall of blades grew higher and higher.

The blades on Razor's back formed into a pair of bladed metal wings. "Well, come on then!" He taunted, sounding more insane than usual. "FIGHT ME!"

"Fine." Said Bigby. He lowered himself onto his haunches, the wind swirling round him. His eyes glowed yellow, and his fangs bared. A shadow passed over his face, the shadow of the Oldest Nightmare, of the Beast that haunted mankind's collective memories ever since they first discovered the sun could set. The face of the ultimate predator, the archetypical dark force of nature. The Big Bad Wolf glared at Razor. "You want to do things the hard way... I can do things the hard way."


	34. The Walls close in

The Big Bad Wolf glared at Razor. "You want to do things the hard way... I can do things the hard way."

Bigby dodged to the left as Razor slashed at him with Soul Edge. Razor's left arm extended into a long, jagged blade and he slashed at him, but Bigby ducked under the overextended blade, taking hold of the other side and snapping it off.

Razor retracted what was left of his arm-blade, instead turning his fingers into scissor-like blades and flying towards the wolf. Bigby had one weapon; Razor's snapped off arm. He swung it quickly, only just blocked Soul Edge on his stolen blade, but just as he was gathering a breath to huff and puff him away, Razor's other hand regrew and stabbed him in the shoulder, not only piercing a lung, but redirecting the wind into a howl of pure pain as he flung Bigby into the wall.

Bigby's mind was swimming; only the thumb had struck the heart, the rest were non-fatal shoulder wound, but it still hurt like a vorpal sword! Thankfully his reflexes were still honed from a millennia of practice, and he managed to pull back just before Razor's stabbed the wall where his head would have been.

Inwardly, Bigby winced. Everybody knew, that against an equal opponent you didn't go for the head, you went for center mass. He was going to be killed by a moron. But even the wolf part of him shrunk back as Razor's bladed fingers merged and extended out into a full-size broadsword, with smaller knives emerging from along his arm. He flung jagged blade aside, and raced away on all fours as Razor flew into the air.

"Is that it?" Razor asked, incredulously.

Before Bigby used the wall he was running towards to push off again, and run towards him at a breathtaking speed, hands turning into paws and claws digging gashes into the concrete as he ran. Even his inner wolf was scared, but wolves never give up.

Razor raised Soul Edge above his head before swinging it down in a powerful overhead attack, anticipating Bigby's leap. Bigby leapt into the air anyway, but he was faster. His jaws closed around his foe's arm as he swung it down, and he redirected the attack, missing him completely and jamming Soul Edge firmly into the ground.

Bigby's clawed hands came up, and he slashed at Razor as he flew down on top of him. Razor cried out in pain, and two swordlike blades emerged from his shoulders, but Bigby's claws slashed through them too, and tore into his metallic arms.

Razor was forced to remove his hands from the demonic sword to block a slash to the face. Bigby reached back and grabbed hold of Soul Edge, tearing it from the ground and ramming it through Razor's chest, before charging forward, pushing Soul Edge and Razor with him, until the cursed sword stabbed into one of the huge swords that made up Razor's arena, pinning Razor to it.

"Shen! Tobias!" Bigby cried out to the others.

He turned his back on the psychopath pinned to the huge sword behind him. He took a single step forward and almost collapsed. But he called upon the power of the wind, and the power of his popularity as a fable. He was the Big. Bad. WOLF! Collapsed lung or not, he wouldn't give up.

"Let's go!"

"How many guys are after the Instruments now?" Asked Dash, as he and Dante ran up the hotel stairs. Dante was carrying an unconscious Deadpool on his back and Dash was having to make a conscious effort to run slowly enough so Dante could keep up.

"First Dogbert and Cobra Commander and Baron Dante and all those guys join forces, then that huge dragon and the plant monster, then Syndrome of all people comes back, and now this Sasuke guy..."

"Not to mention Wesker and his cronies." Dante added. Dash seemed worried, but Dante was smiling grimly at their odds. "And that guy in the black cape and hemlet, and Solidor and his minions. Let's hope they don't all just wipe each other out..."

"...and leave some for us!" Finished Deadpool. "Hey! Who stole my teleporty thing?"

"Gibson." Said Dante.

"I'll have to get him back for that one." Deadpool chuckled, getting to his feet. "Hey, I spy with my little eye, something monochromatic and endangered, eh?"

Dante and Dash looked where he was pointing to see an unconscious Po and Tigress.

"Who did that?" Dash asked, appearing at their side in a blur.

"Probably the peacock." Deadpool said, taking out a marker and drawing a mustache and glasses on Po's face. "They seemed to be old enemies. I'm surprised none of mine have turned up!"

"What about old skull-face back at the hanger?" Asked Dante, picking up Tigress. "I thought you said he was an enemy of yours?"

"Sometimes." Deadpool shrugged. "Depends who was paying him at the time" He slung Po over his back with a grunt. "Whoo boy… somebody needs to lay off the bamboo…"

"Uh, guys?" Dash asked, pointing out the window. The rainbow Walls were closing in on all sides while the ground and buildings in their path crumbled and were absorbed into their surfaces. "We need to get out of here..."

They ran up to the roof, where Superman, Rex, Sonic, Rainbow Dash and the remainder of the Furious Five were already waiting.

"Po! Tigress! Are they alright?!" Asked Monkey, seeing Po and Tigress' unconscious bodies.

"Yeah, they're fine." Said Dante, as Mantis checked up on them and found exactly the same thing.

"I didn't kill them." Insisted an all-too familiar voice. All eyes turned to another corner of the roof where Lord Shen had climbed up the building, followed by a falcon and a huge black wolf, that was scarred and bleeding. "As bitter of enemies as we were, I believe this time we have found ourselves working on the same side."

"I find that hard to believe." Viper hissed.

"Right now, your past is the least of our worries." Growled the wolf. "We need to get out of here, and fast."

"Tell me something we don't know." Said Sonic.

"How tough are those rainbow walls?" asked Dante.

"I don't know, nothing me or that blade maniac could do could penetrate them, but even if we could break them, this plate's been disconnected." Said Bigby, ignoring the Furious Four and Shen glaring at each other. "After the walls became fully formed, there was nothing on the other side. At least Kurt and Tintin got the Sword of Timelines out of here..."

"Could we..." Began Rex, but a sound from somewhere on his back silenced him. There was a machine there, and somehow it had rendered itself undetectable to his nanomachines. Sonic quickly ran over and looked at the source, finding a small machine with an illuminated strip that was quickly receding, the hum of the machine getting louder and louder as the bar approached its end.

"I think Rex's got some kind of bomb on his back!" shouted Sonic, only noticing the shadow looming over him at the last moment and pulling Rex and himself out of the way as an axe-like blade slashed down at them.

Razor was looking a lot worse for wear as he leapt in for another attack. His legs and right arm hung uselessly, only moving himself through six insect-like sword-blade-legs coming out of his back. Soul Edge was still impaled through his chest.

"Didn't you impale this guy!?" Tobias yelled.

"He must have escaped when the wall got to him." Bigby snarled. "But it must have done serious damage to him before he could escape…"

Dante blocked his attack with Rebellion, pulling out a handgun to shoot Razor with his other hand, but another blade shot out from the cyborg's shoulder and knocked the gun from his hands. A dozen more shot out of his chest at blinding speeds, impaling into Dante's body.

"Dante!" Dash shouted, racing forward and pulling Dante away before the blades impaled him to the wall. But despite the blood Dante didn't look bothered by the numerous holes going through his body in the slightest.

5...

Superman flew up behind Razor, but the madman retrieved Soul Edge from his stomach with his one remaining functional hand and stabbed it into the ground, releasing a wave of magical energy that blasted the Kryptonian back. Shen looked across at Rex, noting where the bombs connected to the timer where.

4...

Bigby rushed past Superman as Dante got up and slashed at Razor's hand with Rebellion, severing it. Bigby took this chance to grab Soul Edge. Shen retrieved his spear.

3...

Shen expertly cut the bomb system from Rex's suit with the tip of his spear, while Bigby lunged at Razor with the Soul Edge.

2...

Bigby ran Soul Edge through Razor, feeling a sharp pain in his left hand as he did so. Shen threw the antimatter bombs at Razor, the bombs getting caught in the hole left by the first time Bigby had impaled him.

1...

Sonic pulled Dante out of the way in time for Superman to punch Razor in the face, sending him flying back with such force and momentum that Soul Edge penetrated into the rainbow wall, leaving what was left of Razor pinned to the wall.

0.

As the bombs went off, Razor was completely destroyed, blades scattered all over what was left of the building. Superman shielded the others on the side of the wall close enough to feel the effects of the blast. A crack about the size of a car was left in the wall, through which Taokaka could be seen carrying an unconscious Eddy and a currently-inanimate Hobbes.

"There you are!" said Taokaka. "Tao got worried when you all disappeared. What are you doing over there?"

"Someone used an Instrument to split us up", said Dash.

"Are any of the others there too?" asked Bigby as Tao hopped across onto Soul Edge (which had been left remarkably unharmed by the antimatter explosion), then on to the other rooftop. "Have you seen Trafalgar, Zig-zag, Preacher or Jigen?"

"Tao hasn't seen Hat Guy, Poofy-tail, Bandage Guy or Dirty Harry anywhere."

"Dirty Harry?" Whispered Dash to Dante.

"I think she's talking about Jigen." Dante replied.

"I thought Jigen was Hat Guy?"

"What about Nightwing?" asked Superman. "Did you see anyone in a black and blue costume with a mask?"

Taokaka shook her head. "All Tao saw were a bunch of funny black things yellow eyes and all kinds of weird outfits..."

All four walls had now reached the edges of the roof, and the hole in the wall Taokaka had come through had closed up, depositing Soul Edge back on the roof.

"Any bright ideas, anyone?" asked Rex.

Superman threw a punch at the wall, but only tiny cracks appeared, repairing moments later. Superman withdrew his fist, his knuckles scorched and blackened.

"Use that sword!" said Dash, running over to retrieve Soul Edge. As soon and his hands closed around the hilt, though, he doubled over in pain.

"I will consume your soul." The voice of Soul Edge whispered. "You will..."

Superman snatched the demon sword from Dash's hands and thrust it into the wall. Energy blasted out of the barrier as the sword slowly pierced through, before it suddenly broke right through, revealing only an infinite blackness on the other side.

Superman felt a tugging in his hands. He tightened his grip, but suddenly it was as if his hand was made of paper. The Soul Edge was yanked away, sucked through, drifting and disappearing into the black expanse.

Sonic flew by, and instinctively, Superman grabbed at him. Superman, Bigby, Dante and Deadpool managed to grab onto the others, holding onto various features of the roof to stop themselves being sucked through. The breach quickly closed up, thankfully before all the air was sucked from the limited space.

"Well, looks like we're dead." Deadpool said chipperly, as the group backed closer together to stay away from the still-advancing walls. "Anyone got any awesome last words to say before we go the way of bladey monster cyborg guy?"

No-one had time to answer before the rainbow ceiling above them changed predominantly green. Before any of them could ask what was going on, a huge silver drill descended through the ceiling, the threads glowing bright green. The tip opened up, revealing a familiar red and blue, metallic figure. Standing on his shoulder was a young man wearing a long blue cape and a star-shaped red visor of some kind.

"Optimus?" said Dash, as the entire group was engulfed in a brilliant green light...

**As requested by one reader, I will be providing a reminder at the end of each chapter of where everyone is (or was last seen)**

**Darth Vader, Kratos, Makuta Teridax, Sephiroth, Shao Khan, Fused Rahkshi, Scarred Rahkshi: Location unknown. Vader last seen in London. Has half the Orb of Continua**

**Cloud, Ezio, Tahu, Takanuva, Optimus Prime, Omega Supreme, Grimlock, Micro-Ice, Kernor, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami: Went through portal, location unknown. Optimus just saved Deadpool, Dash, Dante, Po, The Furious Five, Bigby, Taokaka, Eddy, Hobbes, Shen, Tobias, Superman, Sonic and Rex**

**Trafalgar Law, Zig-Zag, the Preacher, Jigen: Missing after vanishing whilst travelling down Hotel 1's stairs**

**Judge Doom, Xehanort, Vanitas, Clockwerk, Sebastian Shaw, Vayne Solidor: Last seen being brought to Galbatorix**

**Larry Koopa, Wrackle, Stupid, Oddish, Minomon, Mushroomon: Location unknown. Last seen in Rabanastre**

**Mickey Mouse, Peter Pan, Woody, Jack Skellington, Spawn, Ghost Rider, Samus, Snake, Buzz Lightyear: Location unknown. Last seen travelling through portal**

**Stitch: In Jurassic forest. Acting strangely. When last seen, was carrying half the Orb of Continua**

**Sherlock Holmes, Skulduggery Pleasant, America, Edward Elric, Dave Strider, Axel: Location Unknown. Last seen in Rabanastre.**

**Biollante, Deathwing, Relius Clover, Juri, Metus, Fawful, Gorilla Grodd, Demona, Syndrome, Doctor Octopus, Gollum, Baldor: Last seen in Biollante's Cave. Have the Key to the Past**

**Calvin: Captured by Maleficent**

**Nightwing: Location unknown**

**Zero, Metaknight, Ryu, Larten Crepsley, Sora, Taskmaster, Kairi, Rayman, Sparkster, Kari Kamiya,**

**Gatomon, Sly Cooper, Omega: Heading to medieval France**

**Tintin, Namah, Klaus Baudelaire, Kurt Wagner: Jurassic Laurasia**

**Dogbert, Sweet Tooth, Johan Liebert, Wesley "The Killer" Gibson, Murlough, Vergil: May or may not have escaped the Duplicate Plates. Location unknown**

**Saruman, Baron Dante, Cobra Commander, Black Heart: Presumably in Dogbert team HQ**

**Albert Wesker, The Master, Freddy Krueger, Lotso, Carnage, IT: Last seen in Wesker's laboratory**

**SpaceGodzilla, Naraku, Obsidian, Lord Muu, Zarbon: Last seen contacting Wesker's laboratory**

**Lupin, Cole McGrath, Nathan Drake, John Marston, The Dragonborn: Jurassic Laurasia**

**Sigma: Sent back for repairs**

**Groove Guy, Pichu, Wheezy, Pumpkinmon, Time Eater, Doctor N. Brio: Seeking The Joker**

**James Heller, Gaara, Batman, Riku, Brom, Sirius Black: "Running an important errand". Location unknown**

**Maleficent, Sasuke Uchiha: Working for Galbatorix; last seen in hotel 2 and 1 respectively. Location unknown and somewhat irrelevant**


	35. Within a giant robot

"You took your time getting us out of there!" snapped Bigby, as he looked around. As well as Optimus and the man in the star-shaped visor, there were a few others present. Taokaka looked up to see a few familiar faces.

"Fire guy! Handsome man! Metal dude! Unicorn! You're all here!" She cried upon seeing Tahu, Ezio, Optimus and Twilight Sparkle. "We should all have a party with lots of food and everything!"

"Where are we?" Asked Tigress.

"Deep beneath Metru Nui." Tahu stepped forward to explain. "Near the Core Processor."

"Awesome!" cheered Po. Then after a moment for comprehension to dawn, he asked; "Where's that?

"A long way from home." Summarized Ezio.

"This is actually my home world." Explained Tahu, with a fond look on his face. "Well, it was until Mata Nui's task was complete and Bara Magna was restored."

"But according to the data stored here, we're now in it a millennia after it was evacuated and the head - the very part we're in - was destroyed." Takanuva said, entering through a side door.

It took a moment before anyone noticed the odd choice of words.

"Head?" Tobias asked. "What do you mean head?"

"This structure we're currently inside was once the body of the Great Spirit Mata Nui. We are inside the head of this robotic body right now, deep under the once-great city of Metru Nui."

"Awesome." Po breathed. "So... we're in the head of the robotic empty body of a... great spirit of some kind... and this robot is under a city?" He giggled with excitement.

"What? Don't be ridiculous." Tahu snapped. "The city we're under is in the head of Mata Nui's body too."

There was a group silence as everyone tried to process that information.

"How big exactly is this "body"?" Asked Bigby.

"In human measurements?"Takanuva had to think hard on the question. "About twelve thousand of your "kilometres". Why do you ask?"

* * *

><p>"It appears we have a greater enemy than the ones who have been pestering our attempts at retrieving the Instruments of Time." Dogbert said, looking around the table. Sweet Tooth, Wesley, Sigma, Vergil and himself had managed to escape. Murlough had as well, but not unscathed, as the replacement arm and fingers he was examining testified. They were duplicates of Sigma's with additional Cybertronian features made by research into Omega Supreme's stolen circuitry. Seated alongside them were Saruman, Baron Dante, Blackheart and Cobra Commander.<p>

There was still no sign of Razor, Johan or Soul Edge.

This displeased Dogbert.

"This enemy controls at least one Instrument, able to remove entire sections of the landscape. We should look into this further before proceeding. Commander, what is the status of our acquisition ventures?"

"We have retrieved the Millenium Eye and Key, along with the Fluorite Octet, the Red Chain, and several Kanohi Masks of Power." Cobra Commander reported. "It was almost too easy. Oh, and you'll love this next bit. We also picked up an unusual mechanical object, transmitting some kind of signal. From what we could decode, it's transmitting a message to you."

"To me?" Dogbert asked, surprised for once. "Bring it in."

A pair of Dantinis wheeled in a trolley carrying the head of what looked to be a mechanical bird of prey of some kind. As soon as Dogbert came into its field of vision, its eyes lit up. Waves of yellow light seemed to spread from it.

"A temporal beacon." Said Dogbert. He had once wondered if such a thing were possible, but after the attack on the hangar he had found and studied what appeared to be just such a device. The theory was that by broadcasting a signal throughout time, one could safely teleport between time plates without the rapid aging.

It seemed somebody had managed to make it work.

In front of them, four humanoid figures materialized, along with a huge metal avian body, the head on the table magnetically pulled onto its neck. The leader stepped forward, a small rabbit hopping off the bird's back and onto his shoulder as he did.

"Ah, Bun-bun, my old adversary." Dogbert said, addressing the bunny as opposed to the man whose shoulder he sat on. Everyone present had already drawn their weapons and pointed them at the new group. "And I see you've brought some friends. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I am Vayne Solidor, Consul of Rabanastre." Introduced the man. "I believe we have a common enemy."

"And you propose a joint venture to vanquish this mysterious nemesis?" Saruman asked. "Why do you believe we would require assistance? What would you bring to such an alliance?"

"He's got a point." Wesley said. "We've got Cybertronian tech, enhanced Dantini and Cobra troops, Saruman's Palantir, and a ton of other mystic artifacts and weapons. What have you got?"

"Thay've got Bun-bun." Dogbert said quietly. "Having him as an ally instead of an enemy of wild factor is worth almost any price."

"Each of my associates has extreme prowess on the battlefield, and my esteemed colleague Master Xehanort commands a vast army of Heartless." Solidor explained, not having heard Dogbert. "But as well as this, we have first-hand experience of Galbatorix and his allies, and the powers of two of the Instruments of Time."

Dogbert considered for a moment. "Which two Instruments do you know about?"

"I used to possess the Key to the Past, before it was stolen, and I saw the workings of Galbatorix's Staff of the Future."

Dogbert paused. Those two Instruments could be very mighty in his paws.

"Very well then." said Dogbert. "Welcome aboard"

As Dogbert, Solidor, Xehanort and Bun-bun discussed their next move, Saruman, Cobra Commander and Baron Dante left the table.

"The next time you find a 'message' for Dogbert," Saruman said, once they were in the corridor. "I would suggest you make certain of what the message is before you bring it to him."

"Agreed." Baron Dante said. "That mutt has his paws in too many pies as is it. Any progress on our other endeavors?"

"My scientists have studied the DNA samples Dogbert brought back, and we have isolated strands from Wolverine, Storm, Taokaka and Dashiel Parr that grant them their superhuman abilities." Said Cobra Commander. "We have tested many of these on Dantinis, as they seem to take well to genetic and magical augmentation. We also recovered the Millenium Key, the Red Chain and the body of a Decepticon known as Starscream."

"Speaking of which, how many among Razor's group will side with us when the time comes to dispose of Dogbert?" Asked Baron Dante.

"Recent injuries taken while executing Dogbert's ill-conceived plans have made Sigma and Murlough willing to side with us, and Blackheart is also allied with us." Saruman said, ever the persuasive one. "We have yet to speak with Vergil on the matter. But I believe we should wait before dealing with Dogbert. It is likely Solidor will side with him."

"Commander!" Cried a scientist, bursting through one of the doors.

"Three strange beings have broken into the building. The Dantinis and Uruk-hai are trying to fight them, but they're no match for..."

He never got to finish, as a purple beam of energy shot through him, narrowly dodged by Saruman and the others. As the scientist fell, a blue-skinned man in strange armor with green braided hair and an eyepiece of some kind became visible.

Baron Dante drew a sword from his back. The huge blade had once belonged to an assassin named Zabuza Momochi from the Hidden Mist Village of ninjas, and was said to repair any damage it took using the iron from the blood of those slain by it.

"What is your business here?" Demanded Saruman.

* * *

><p>"So, Galbatorix has the Staff, Gorilla Grodd has the Key, and this Tintin has the Sword." Naraku thought out loud, studying the screens in front of him. SpaceGodzilla's right-hand man was apparently a half-demon, and Wesker had made sure to study a small sample of his blood he had been willing to spare. "What about the other two Instruments?"<p>

"After the Orb split in two, it gave off greatly reduced energy readings." Explained Wesker. "If it ever gets reassembled, it happens somewhere away from the Earth, or within some kind of energy barrier. The Mask of the Present has yet to appear on any of these scanners."

"Even with SpaceGodzilla amplifying its reach with his psychic powers?" asked Naraku.

"Even then, it remains outside our detection." Wesker said. "But we have made great advances in other fields. The Carnage Symbiote has divided into four smaller organisms and we have been experimenting with two of them. Your scientist Obsidian certainly seemed to have a few interesting ideas..."

"How is our invasion force doing?" Asked Naraku. By way of an answer, Wesker took a remote from his coat and pointed it at the screen, changing the view to that of Zarbon facing down Dogbert's three mutinous "allies".

As Baron Dante charged at Zarbon, the alien smiled, stepping to one side. "This one seems more your style, Muu." He said, as a golden - armoured figure in a red cape entered the corridor through another corridor.

He caught the Baron's sword in one hand. Baron Dante swung his other fist round towards Muu, creating a shockwave that blasted him through the wall. Instead of falling, Muu hovered in mid-air, dark energy gathering around his hands. Baron Dante leapt through the hole in the wall after him, using his magical powers to stay suspended in the air.

"Now that they're out of the way, you'll be easy." Zarbon mocked Saruman. "Your power levels are much lower than I expected..."

"You expect your equipment to accurately gauge the power of a White Wizard?" Saruman chuckled, gesturing with his staff.

Zarbon was flung back, crashing into the wall. He recovered quickly and flew towards Saruman, but Cobra Commander stepped forward to intercept him. Zarbon simply kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying back into the wall behind him. He was about to deliver a similar blow to Saruman, but…

Saruman just stood there, smiling.

A spinning blade flew out of nowhere and hit Zarbon with enough force to throw him to the ground.

Vanitas re-summoned his Keyblade in his hand. As Xehanort, Sebastien Shaw and Sweet Tooth joined him in the corridor, Zarbon got back to his feet.

"We've got what we came for." He said, trying to salvage an air of power. "If we ever meet again, you won't come off so lightly next time!"

He flew out the hole in the wall, he and Muu flying across a time crack and out of sight.

Xehanort summoned a small band of Heartless. "Follow them back to their headquarters." He ordered.

* * *

><p>"Three... Two... One... Go!"<p>

No sooner had Taokaka said Go, then Sonic, Dash and Rainbow Dash sped off.

After getting out of the danger zone, the first thing they had wanted to do was see who was the fastest, and the abandoned city of Metru Nui proved the perfect course for this race.

Inside the Great Temple of Ga-metru, Bigby ignored the three speedsters as they raced past. Tahu, Ezio, Shen, Tobias, Deadpool, Kernor and Micro-Ice were gathered around the temple as well.

"Sending someone to infiltrate Galbatorix's capital and retrieve the Staff of the Future has just proven more necessary than ever, albeit more dangerous as well." Bigby said to the gathered group. "But while the venue was rigged from the start, I think we can pull through."

"And we were the best choice?" Micro-Ice asked. "What about Simon? I doubt Galbatorix has anything that could stand up to Gurren Lagann."

"That man in the cape and star-shaped visor?" Shen asked. "Who is he anyway?"

"They call him Simon the Digger." Tahu said, his eyes shining with wonder. "The story goes that he and a small band of followers took on an entity with more power than most of the universe put together and won. I don't know what to believe; all I know is, those creatures on the Northern Continent? Godzilla and Gamera and their kin? ... He can take them on."

"There you are!" Po said, interrupting the seriousness of the moment by walking into the temple. "Where have you been? The others have found some kind of escape pod, and you'll never guess who was in it."

"Who was it?" asked Deadpool. "Wesker? Sora? Lupin? Wolverine? Dogbert? Lotso? That scary guy with the gloat red sword we saw back in London? A future version of me?"

"Nope", said Po. "Woody was in it. He's in the Onu... Monu... Motro..."

"Onu-metru." Corrected Tahu.

"...Onu-metru archives right now!" Finished Po.

"DAMNIT!" Cried Deadpool. "He was going to be my ninth guess!"

_**In answer to Power Paxx, I'm not accepting any more teams for this story, sorry. I'll gladly put them in if I ever make a sequel though, because it's a great team.**_

_**As you might have already guessed, next chapter we find out what Woody and co. have been up to. I should be finished it fairly soon :)**_


	36. Woody's story (part 1)

Sheriff Woody was looking pretty bad shape when Bigby arrived at Metru Nui's Coliseum. A lot of the others already there. Simon stood with a young woman with white hair, a red-haired girl argued with Shinji about something or other, and Dante, Takanuva, Superman, Rex, Po and the Furious Five were gathered around. Even Omega Supreme was there, peering over the wall of the coliseum at the others.

"What happened to you?" Asked Takanuva.

"It's a long story." Woody said.

"Well, we have time." Said Dante. "It's not like anyone will attack us in here. We're miles out into space in a robot the size of a planet."

"Fair enough." Woody acquiesced with a grin. "It all started back in the hangar, where we last met..."

* * *

><p>"Peter, any time now is good!" Woody yelled, as Razor's team closed in around them. "Summon a portal and get us out of here!"<p>

For a moment, Peter thought he felt something crawling up his back. But the moment passed, and he quickly summoned a portal behind his remaining allies.

The group fled through the portal, Spawn snatching up Grimlock's huge sword before joining them.

"Peter, where is this?" Asked Buzz as they stepped through the portal into a white-panelled corridor of some kind.

"I… don't know." Peter stammered. "I just summoned it by instinct and..."

His statement was interrupted when Blackheart stepped through the portal. The rest of his team were making their way through as well.

"Close that portal!" Shouted Buzz.

"Not yet!" Spawn barked, hurling the sword at the group.

To traverse the quickly-narrowing portal, Blackheart, Sigma, Inferno, Vergil, Razor and Murlough were forced into a convenient line, and the sword was able to stab through them one by one, hurling them back through the portal.

"Now you can close it." Spawn hissed with some satisfaction. And it closed.

"It appears we have lost them." Said Jack.

"Along with any idea where we are." Snake pointed out.

"Hey, at least we're out of that chaos." Peter said, getting younger by the second.

"I never did ask." Samus said, very curiously. "Why is it that Peter gets younger and older like this?"

"It's an effect of the timestream breaking up." Explained Mickey. "Before then, Peter had gained the ability to never grow up. That's changed now to him growing younger and older seemingly at random."

"Let's keep moving." Buzz commanded. "We seem to be on some kind of spacecraft. We might be able to contact whoever's in charge here..."

"Halt!" Ordered a voice from up ahead, as soldiers in white armor flooded in to surround them. "Drop your weapons!"

Woody put his hands up, hoping to demonstrate that he meant no harm, but Ghost Rider walked forward.

"I'll take no orders from the guilty." He said, drawing his hellfire chain. Within moments, all the white-armored soldiers lay dead.

"Was that really necessary?" Mickey asked.

The group heard a slow clapping sound, coming from the room at the end of the corridor, which they walked into. Then the doors slammed shut and the lights went out, the room now lit only by Ghost Rider's flames. A huge armored figure faded into view.

"I see those Stormtroopers were no match for you." Said the stranger. Menacingly, he raised a large two-bladed staff. "But maybe we can still come to an agreement. Hand over the Orb now."

Ghost Rider lashed out with his chains. He could see the inherent evil in others, and this being was virtually made of it. Before his attack could hit, a second chain weapon deflected the attack at the last moment, the blade at the end of the chain pinning Ghost Rider's chain to the wall.

"You would defend this monster?" said the Ghost Rider as the pale-skinned man wielding the chain blades stepped forward, coming into the light cast by Ghost Rider's flames. Ghost Rider walked over and grabbed the man, preparing to use his Penance Stare, but the white-skinned man pulled a sword from his back and roared as he thrust it through Ghost Rider's chest.

"FALL BEFORE THE BLADE OF OLYMPUS!" Bellowed the pale man, pulling the blade upwards. The hellfire surrounding Ghost Rider grew hotter, melting through the floor and sending Ghost Rider and his enemy falling into whatever lay below.

With Ghost Rider gone, there was no longer any light in the room, a factor Mickey quickly remedied as he summoned six floating orbs of light that lit up the entire room. Spawn rose into the air, preparing to attack the dark-armored Titan, but a hand grabbed his leg. Stitch pulled Spawn off his feet and threw the hellspawn into a wall.

"Stitch! Where the hell did that come from?" cried Woody, but when Stitch turned to face the others, he wasn't looking like himself. His eyes had a red glow to them, and his fur looked darker. About a dozen slug-like creatures faded into view on his back as he grabbed Woody by the throat.

Stitch grinned. "Nothing personal, old friend, it's just that Lord Teridax here needs you to die now..."

A laser shot through the room, frying one of the slithering creatures on Stitch's back. He dropped Woody and turned to Buzz.

_'All I have to do is shoot all those sluglike creatures off Stitch's body.'_ Thought Buzz as Stitch leapt towards him. His amour's wings flicked out as he flew back. '_Maybe then he'll return to normal...'_

The eyes on one of the slug creatures, this one orange with a black tail, began glowing. A plate from the side of the hallway tore itself off the wall and hovered in front of Stitch like a shield, deflecting the laser.

Another sluglike creature on Stitch's left shoulder, this one yellow with a green tail, fired a pair of similar lasers back at him.

Not expecting the slugs to have their own powers in addition to controlling Stitch, Buzz only narrowly dodged the lasers, the beams cutting a corner off one of his armour's wings. He had no time to think about this before Stitch leapt at him, sending them both rolling over a railing and down out of sight of the others.

Woody's sharp eyes caught something. He slowly, quietly, raised his gun. There were two others standing atop a higher balcony. The man in the black helmet and cape they saw in London stood to the left, his breathing clearly audible. Next to him stood a huge man. He wore spiked shoulder pads, shin guards and gauntlets, a skull medallion in the centre of a cross of belts across his chest and a red-eyed skull-shaped helmet.

But Peter, who had sharper eyes than most, due to dueling pirates, recognized him immediately.

"You're the one who invaded Neverland!" he shouted, flying toward the skull-masked man and drawing a dagger. The man in black raised a hand, and an invisible force threw Peter back to the ground. Woody shot at them, but his bullets did no good.

"Enough!" Said the skull-masked man. "I'll deal with this annoyance myself."

"As you wish." Said the man in black as the man standing beside him drew a huge warhammer and leapt over the railing and down onto the floor below.

"You know me as the man who invaded your pitiful realm, but do you know who I really am?" He asked, as Peter got back to his feet, his age settling in around his mid-twenties.

"I don't know and I don't care!" Peter yelled. "No-one messes with Neverland while I'm around!"

"Your Neverland is no more!" The man shouted back. "I am Shao Kahn, Konqueror of worlds! And your world has been conquered! It was merged with Outworld long ago! So will all worlds be! I am unstoppable!"

With a hiss, a trio of floating triangular projections bound Shao Kahn.

Mickey finished his incantation. "Now Peter!"

Peter flew at the demonic conqueror, dragging him up higher up into the piping that filled the roofspace, but Shao Kahn freed himself and brutally smashed Peter out of the way with his hammer.

Peter recovered, barely, and ducked aside to avoid Shao Kahn's next strike. With Shao's wide, brutal strikes, and Peter's quick and efficient parries, they both soon flew out of sight.

The man in black glided to the ground, and Mickey stepped forward. "I'll take you on."

"Your mere parlor tricks are no match for the power of the Dark Side of the Force." Said his opponent.

"We'll see about that." Mickey boasted. As the black-armoured man leapt towards him, summoning his red glowing blade in one hand, a huge green glowing circle appeared at Mickey's feet. Lightning crackled around it, before, in a brilliant flash of light, Mickey and the stranger vanished.

"Come on guys!" Cried Woody. "Even if he has seperated us from the others, it's still five on one!" Woody, Spawn, Snake and Samus loaded their weapons.

"Do you truly believe your powers and equipment will be enough against the power of a Makuta?" Teridax smirked. "Then I will show you the difference in our powers."

Spawn was the first to attack, firing a beam of necroplasmic energy at Teridax, but he was gone before the beam even reached him. A hand shot out from behind him, grabbing him by the head, and Spawn began to feel his energy sapping away.

Teridax was now standing at the other end of the room, his arm stretching about thirty feet across the room. Woody, Samus and Snake opened fire, but their bullets and energy blasts did nothing to penetrate Teridax's armour.

Jack leapt toward the Makuta, but he was cut down in mid-air by lasers from Teridax's eyes, cutting off both his arms. He landed on his feet, perfectly balanced as his arms clattered to the ground, but Teridax simply touched him and he shattered, his bones flying across the room in different directions. He raised the hand still holding Spawn before it started to crackle with electricity.

"How many powers has he got?!" Snake cried out in exasperation, as Woody was swept aside.

Samus suddenly found herself pulled by her armor towards Teridax's hand, as the magnetic force interfered with the readings on her helmet. As soon as she reached his hand, she felt her body and armor begin to become unbelievably heavy, before she was thrown, hitting Snake and knocking him back into the wall behind. Snake's legs were crushed under Samus's now immensely heavy armor.

Teridax dropped Spawn, the once-unstoppable hellspawn falling to the ground. Only half-conscious, Woody watched as Vader and Kratos returned to the room. They were followed by Stitch, who was dragging Buzz and Mickey.

Stitch dropped them to the floor. Buzz's helmet was smashed and neither had made any movement; unconscious or dead, it was impossible to tell at this point. Peter's status was left far less ambiguous when Shao Kahn returned with his body.

Woody held in a tear.

"Which of them brought us the other half of the Orb?" Asked Teridax.

"That would be me." Said Stitch, handing the Makuta the half gold, half silver ball. Teridax took the sphere, the silver half fading as he produced the original other half.

"At last, the Orb of Continua is complete once more." Teridax said, momentarily sounding in awe of the Instrument before him, before tossing the completed orb to Vader. "Lord Vader, summon us a portal. Take this starship to Planet Earth. We have four more Instruments to claim."

"Of course." Said the Sith Lord, who strode off down another corridor.

"Kratos, take what remains of our guests to the prison deck, and ensure the highest security."

"Most of them are dead, and the ones who are alive could be killed in an instant." Shao Kahn pointed out. "Why take prisoners when it is far easier to simply destroy them?"

"I have plans for them." Said Teridax. "We managed to convert the convicted experiment into a fine pawn. Though he has proven able to resist the Kraata ever so slightly, when he had the Sheriff by the throat and merely dropped him instead of breaking his neck, his existing powers make him powerful in combat, doubly so with the Kraata's powers added to his own. The others could prove similarly useful. As for you, Shao Kahn, inform our armies that we shall be heading out to claim the other instruments."

"Roodaka will be pleased." said Shao Kahn.

_**Keep an eye on previous chapters, I'm going to be adding in the two missing fights soon; Sora and Riku vs Vanitas and Superman vs Rex.**_

_**Here's the updated locations for everyone:**_

_**(Past) Darth Vader, Kratos, Makuta Teridax, Sephiroth, Shao Khan, Stitch: On board an Imperial Star Destroyer. Has half the Orb of Continua**_

_**(Past) Woody, Buzz, Mickey, Spawn, Samus, Snake, Jack: On board Teridax's Star Destroyer. Mickey and Buzz status unknown**_

_**Cloud, Ezio, Tahu, Takanuva, Optimus Prime, Omega Supreme, Grimlock, Microice, Kernor, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Asuka Sohryu, Deadpool, Dash, Dante, Po, Tigress, Simon the Digger, Princess Nia, Godzilla, Gamera and Sheriff Woody: On Mata Nui's body. Currently listening to Woody's story**_

_**Trafalgar Law, Zig-Zag, the Preacher, Jigen: Missing after vanishing whilst travelling down Hotel 1's stairs**_

_**Larry Koopa, Wrackle, Stupid, Oddish, Minomon, Mushroomon: Location unknown. Last seen in Rabanastre**_

_**Mickey Mouse, Peter Pan, Jack Skellington, Spawn, Ghost Rider, Samus, Snake, Buzz Lightyear: Location unknown. Last seen in Woody's story**_

_**Stitch: In Jurassic forest. Controlled by Teridax's Kraata**_

_**Sherlock Holmes, Skulduggery Pleasant, America, Edward Elric, Dave Strider, Axel: Location Unknown. Last seen in Rabanastre.**_

_**Biollante, Deathwing, Relius Clover, Juri, Metus, Fawful, Gorilla Grodd, Demona, Syndrome, Doctor Octopus, Gollum, Baldor: Last seen in Biollante's Cave. Have the Key to the Past**_

_**Calvin: Captured by Maleficent**_

_**Nightwing: Location unknown**_

_**Zero, Metaknight, Ryu, Larten Crepsley, Sora, Taskmaster, Kairi, Rayman, Sparkster, Kari Kamiya,**_

_**Gatomon, Sly Cooper, Omega: Heading to medieval France**_

_**Tintin, Namah, Klaus Baudelaire, Kurt Wagner: Jurassic Laurasia**_

_**Dogbert, Sweet Tooth, Johan Liebert, Wesley "The Killer" Gibson, Murlough, Judge Doom, Xehanort, Vanitas, Clockwerk, Sigma, Sebastian Shaw, Vayne Solidor, Saruman, Baron Dante, Cobra Commander, Black Heart, Vergil: Dogbert's HQ**_

_**Albert Wesker, The Master, Freddy Krueger, Lotso, Carnage, IT, Naraku, Obsidian: Last seen in Wesker's laboratory**_

_**SpaceGodzilla: Last seen contacting Wesker's laboratory**_

_**Lord Muu, Zarbon: Last seen raiding Dogbert's base**_

_**Lupin, Cole McGrath, Nathan Drake, John Marston, The Dragonborn: Jurassic Laurasia**_

_**Groove Guy, Pichu, Wheezy, Pumpkinmon, Time Eater, Doctor N. Brio: Seeking The Joker**_

_**James Heller, Gaara, Batman, Riku, Brom, Sirius Black: "Running an important errand". Location unknown**_

_**Maleficent, Sasuke Uchiha: Working for Galbatorix; last seen in hotel 2 and 1 respectively. Location unknown and somewhat irrelevant due to transportation methods**_


	37. Graves and Dream Bubbles

Where am I?" Woody asked himself, looking around the surreal space he had found himself in.

All around him were places he had been; buildings from Rabanastre, London and the city the sword had pulled together, along with random elements of the Cybermen's conversion facility and the white rooms where they had fought Teridax and his allies. Everywhere he looked, there were things he remembered jumbled together, but no people.

"Weird mix of places you've called up here." Said a voice. Woody's attention was drawn to the roof of a nearby building, where a young woman was standing. She was wearing a white hooded top and jeans, and had long brown hair. Her eyes were a strange shade of orange. "Mind if I change the scene? I'm expecting one more person…"

As if on cue, Peter faded into view, his eyes the same ghostly white as the woman already there. At the same time, the world around them faded away to be replaced by a view over Neverland.

"Finally." She said, jumping off the building and somehow slowly gliding to the ground.

"Peter?!" Woody asked. "I thought… No-one could survive what that guy did to you… OK, maybe Deadpool could, he's another story…"

"He didn't." Said the stranger. "Shao Kahn killed him."

"So… I'm dead?" Peter asked. The girl nodded.

"Am I dead too?" Asked Woody. The stranger shook her head. Now that Woody looked at her, she did look vaguely familiar…

"We're in a dream bubble." She explained. "The dead sometimes come here after they die, and the living can sometimes come here when they're asleep. Actually, Peter's being dead is part of the reason I'm here. I'm in the same situation, and it's one I'd like to be out of…"

Suddenly, she jabbed her hand through Peter. There was no blood or visible injury on him; the hand looked as if it were phasing right through him. Then she was gone.

"What was that all about?" Asked Woody.

"No idea." Said Peter. "But for some reason I think you're about to wake up…"

Woody awoke in a white room. It closely resembled the corridors of whatever they were in before, but Woody had spent enough time around prison cells to recognise one when he saw one, even one as futuristic and clean as this…

"Finally awake, are you?" said a familiar voice. Woody looked round to see Mickey, glowing green shackles around his hands. Snake was also there, along with Samus and Buzz, both stripped of their advanced armour suits. Samus was wearing a skin-tight blue outfit that covered her whole boy from the neck down, while Buzz a Star Command uniform.

"How long have I been asleep?" Asked Woody.

"About a day." Mickey explained. "In which time Teridax has thrown us in this cell, guarded by those Rahkshi creatures, somehow invented magic-restraining shackles for me, and apparently made a proper grave for Peter. Plus Spawn and Jack escaped somehow while we were asleep and didn't even take us along with them…"

"He made a grave for Peter?!" Woody asked, incredulously.

"So he says." Said Mickey with a shrug. "Seemed like an attempt to make us think of him as less of a monster so he can tempt us onto his side if you ask me."

"And he came in and told you all this?" Woody asked.

"Not really, he can talk through the Rahkshi." Said Mickey. "But I'll have to answer the rest of your questions later. Find somewhere comfortable to sit, this is going to take some time."

"What is?" Asked Woody.

"We could get out of here easily if I just had one of my magic artifacts." Said Mickey. "But I can't summon it with these shackles on, so I'm going to give you a crash-course in magic"

"Wait, so Jack and Spawn just abandoned you?" Asked Po.

"Apparently not." Woody said, taking something out of the bag he had been carrying. It appeared to be a skull… with its eye sockets closed? "Jack, you're probably better qualified than me to tell this part. But maybe we could hold on the musical version?"

The skull opened its eyes, however that was possible. "You're no fun." Said Jack's head.

"Where's the rest of you?" Asked Po.

"All in good time." Jack said. "Where did the good Sheriff get to?"

"You and Spawn had already gotten out. Mickey was about to teach him magic".

"Ah yes." Jack nodded, however that was possible. "At that point…"

"Here it is." Spawn hissed, as he and Jack looked over Peter's grave. The presence of a proper grave, dug into some kind of soil, in the middle of a spaceship, was a little strange, but right now it wasn't the least bit surprising compared to another noticeable fact about the grave.

It was empty.

"Looks like the shadow monster was telling the truth." Continued Spawn. "But either someone dug him up, or he climbed out of his grave and went for a walk. Either way, an empty grave is no good to us…"

"Maybe not to you." Said Jack, reaching into the back of the empty coffin at the bottom of the empty grave. He opened what appeared to be a second door in the base of the coffin.

"So the plan wasn't just to recharge my Necroplasm from his grave?" Spawn asked.

"Of course not!" Cried Jack. "Such an unruly practice! If Necroplasm is what you're after, I know just the place… You say you can gather it from creatures associated with evil, all the things that scare people the most?"

"Pretty much." Said Spawn.

"Well then, you're in for a treat!" Jack laughed, grabbing Spawn's hand and pulling him through the door in the bottom of the coffin…

"Welcome to Halloween Town!" He cried with a cheer.


	38. An unexpected reunion

"How's it going?" Asked Jack, as Spawn sat in the in the middle of the town. "Is your energy coming back to you?"

"It's coming back all right." Said Spawn, with a triumphant smile. "This place seems to be practically made of the stuff…"

"Jack! Thank goodness you're here!" Cried a voice. A short, portly man in a tall top hat ran up to the two. His skin appeared to be greenish in hue, and his teeth appeared to be pointed. "Two men just broke into the town and they seem to be attacking the residents! Especially the vampires!"

"Where are they now mayor?" Asked Jack.

"We last saw them around the graveyard." Said the mayor.

"I'll be right there." Jack said, with a sudden seriousness.

"Need any help with that?" Asked Spawn.

"No, no, I'll be fine." Jack assured him, his eyes fixed on the town. "You stay here and recharge."

"Who is this, Jack?" Asked the Mayor.

"This is Spawn." Jack explained, bursting into a wide smile. "He's going to help us with next Halloween!"

"What!? I never…" Began Spawn.

The Mayor's head spun round, revealing a smiling face on the other side. One eye was pure black, while the other was like a spiral drawn onto his face. "It's always good to have more help for Halloween!" He said, jovially shaking his hand. "But is he scary?"

"Why, he's positively terrifying!" said Jack. "You'll see it later. For now though, if you'll excuse me…"

As Jack rushed on, the Mayor began planning how he was going to fit Spawn into the Halloween preparations.

* * *

><p>"Is this actually going anywhere?" Asked Snake after another failed attempt at magic by Woody. "Wouldn't we be better off trying to contact Spawn and the skeleton or something? They seem to have gotten out alrea…"<p>

He stopped as he heard clanging sounds drawing closer, as if something was walking along the wall outside. A sealed door hissed as it opened into what seemed a very small room with another sealed metal door at the other side. Inside it were three Rahkshi escorting another prisoner suspended in a bubble of some kind. A very familiar prisoner…

"Peter?!" said Woody in surprise as the bubble burst and dropped its occupant on the floor with a gesture from an orange and black Rahkshi.

"Hey guys!" Grinned he familiar redhead.

"I thought you died." Snake said.

"I got better."

The Rahkshi hissed at them before the door closed again, the clanging sound faded away into the distance. Do the Rahkshi walk on the walls outside the cells?

"Turns out, my curse is kind of awesome in the right circumstances." Peter went on. "After I died, my body went on changing. I de-aged back past when Shao Kahn killed me and… I came back to life".

"Interesting." Said Mickey. "Your age shifting can bring about healing, even after death".

"Trouble is, -" Peter collapsed on the ground.

Woody went to check his pulse. "Guys… he's dead." He said, with shock.

"Oh, again?" Mickey smirked.

"- it works both ways." Peter continued, turning back into a boy. Woody jumped back, unused to the living dead even with Jack Skellington hanging about. "I woke up in some kind of grave and dug my way out… strange, finding a shovel in my coffin… but when I got out, after a while, I aged back past the age I died, and…"

"The injuries reappeared." Said Mickey. "So in addition to growing too old, or too young, you occaissionally grow too dead…"

"Yeah, it's so weird." Said Peter, as casually as if he were complaining about a bug in his soup. "Oh! And the last time I died again, I thought I saw someone in a weird mask and a long cape come by and slip something into my clothes. When I came back around, I was being brought to this cell in some kind of air bubble by those three monsters."

"What was it like outside?" Asked Woody, mentally shuddering. "When the Rahkshi were bringing you here, did you see what this prison looked like?"

"Oh, it's so cool! Peter said with a childish laugh. "This place is like a huge metal cube, floating somewhere in space! The Rahkshi can survive out there, but most prisoners can't, so they bring one Rahkshi who can create air bubbles, the orange and black ones. I saw another group escorting another prisoner. Both groups in threes, both the same colours. Orange and black, black and gold, and tan and red."

"I've noticed that the different colours seem to correspond to their abilities." Said Mickey. "But I don't know what those colors are. How did you know?"

"Hang on a sec!" Said Peter, taking out a pair of sunglasses. "This… this is so cool!"

"When did you get those?" Asked Woody.

"I had them when I woke up." explained Peter. "They have some kind of in-built computer, hang on a sec…"

"AirborneImmortal (AI) has logged in"

"EaterOfTime (TE) has logged in".

TG: just after I kill you, you log on to talk to me?

TG: also, could you not have thought up a more creative screenname?

TG: you haven't even reversed the letters in the abbreviated version.

TE: FIRST OF ALL, YOU HAVE NOT ACTUALLY KILLED ME

AI: Um

TG: dude, I sliced you from head to tail

TE: YOU ONLY DELAYED ME. NOW GIVE ME YOUR COMPUTING EYE SHIELDS

TG: wait what

TE: YOUR EYE LENS DEVICE. THE ONE YOU ARE USING TO TALK TO ME NOW

TG: hell no

AI: Am I here at a bad time?

AI: I was told this was a good place to gather information and advice.

TG: kind of looking for advice here myself but hit me.

TG: what advice are you looking for?

TG: I be passin out info like cheap cigars

AI: Um ok

AI: my party has been imprisoned in a large cube-shaped prison on some planet I know not where. Two of my friends have recently vanished from their cells.

AI: Also another friend has been corrupted somehow and seems to be being controlled and using weird powers

AI: Do you know anything about this

TG: Sorry, I got nothing

AI: well, maybe I can help with your problem

TG: I just killed a huge eldritch time monster who's now telling me he's not dead and to give him my shades - which there's no way in hell he's getting

TE: I NEED THEM IN THE FUTURE

TE: TO SAVE YOU

TG: nice try, but no

TG: anyway, now I lost the others. Do you know the way to the main audience chamber in rabanastre castle?

AI: sorry, no idea

ChroniclerIlluminated (CI) has logged in

CI: TG, here's the map to the castle

RegeneratingAwesomeness (RA) has logged in

RegeneratingAwesomeness (+5 min) (RA1) has logged in

RegeneratingAwesomeness (+9 min) (RA2) has logged in

RegeneratingAwesomeness (+17 min) (RA3) has logged in

RegeneratingAwesomeness (+1 hour) (RA4) has logged in

RA1: hey cool! It's me from a few minutes ago!

RA2: I could say the same about you, me from a few minutes ago

RA: damn you time travel! Now I know I'm going to be on here for at least 17 more minutes, and a new episode of a tv series I was really into is on in 6!

CI: um...

RA1: never mind that, from what I remember when I was you, us from an hour later is about to say something really cool and important!

TE: COULD ALL OF YOU BE QUIET FOR A MOMENT? I'M TRYING TO GET THE HUMAN CHILD TO GIVE ME HIS COMMUNICATION EYEPIECE LENSES AND YOU ARE VERY DISTRACTING

RA2: Hey Dave, you can give the glasses to big-ol' cloudface's semi-dead body and be part of team LAAAAAME, or you could keep hold of them, listen to these instructions I have for you, and join Team SUPER MEGA AWESOME EXTREME BONANZA!

TE: DON'T LISTEN TO HIM STRIDER. HE'S LEADING YOU TO YOUR UNAVOIDABLE DEATH

TE: WHERE HE KILLS YOU.

RA: That's ridiculous! I wouldn't kill you!

*AI just died*

RA: At least, not in such a long-winded way

RA: Wait, what happened to AI?

R4: Wait for it.

*AI returned from the dead*

AI: Ow.

RA3: Oh man, I still have no idea what's happened to AI.

RA5: I do. *Evil Laugh*!

RA: You see, if I kill someone I do it in as convoluted a manner as possible!

RA2: Yes! Me number 1 has the right idea! Listen to me!

RA3: No, Time Eater is actually right. Give him the sunglasses. Isn't that right, me number 5?

RA5: I didn't kill AI! Why does everybody think I killed AI! Including myself!?

AI: Alright, that's far enough...

RA4: Here it comes...

*AI booted RA2 from the conversation*

AI: Hey neat! I just booted someone from the conversation!

RA: Hey, you can't just boot future me number 2!

AI: That's what I thought! I have no idea how I just did that. I wonder if I can do it again?

*AI booted RA from the conversation"

*RA4 booted AI from the conversation*

"No luck?" asked Mickey as Peter threw down the shades. "Here, let me see. Maybe I'll have some more luck".

"Knock yourself out." Said Peter.

As Mickey put on the shades, a message came up in a separate conversation to the argument.

CI: Hello? AI, are you still there?

AI: I'm here

CI: CI: Thank the great spirit! Last time we met, you said we needed to talk, but there wasn't time. Something about a prison?

AI: Yup. We were wondering what powers certain colours mean

CI: Which colours?

AI: Orange and black, black and gold, and tan and red

CI: Orange with black limbs or black with orange limbs?

AI: Does it matter?

CI: Quite a bit actually

CI: Orange with black is vacuum, black with gold is magnetism, and tan with red is plasma

AI: Vacuum, magnetism and plasma?

AI: How do they use these powers?

CI: Magnetism Rahkshi can attach themselves to rock or metal surfaces, create tough spiked armour from surrounding rock or metal, and have magnetic powers strong enough to tear through solid protodermis.

CI: Plasma Rahkshi coat their bodies in superheated plasma and can shoot it in beams or blobs. Don't let them touch you or hit you with their attacks. Their plasma can instantly melt nearly any object into vapour.

CI: And vacuum Rahkshi can use their powers to fire long-range concussive blasts of air and tear things apart with gale-force winds or instantly reverse their flow. I only found out recently that they can also create sustained bubbles of air for trapping and transport.

AI: Thanks, I'll go tell the others

Mickey took off the shades. "Teridax has Vacuum, Magnetism and Plasma Rahkshi to transport prisoners to the cells", he explained. "Judging by the evidence, I'd say he has the magnetic ones attach themselves and the others to the outer walls, the vacuum Rahkshi create the bubbles to transport the captives in, and the plasma ones are heavy-hitting backup in case anything attacks while the other two are busy."

"How heavy-hitting?" Asked Samus.

"If what CI says is true, they could vaporize us instantly with a touch. Or shoot beams that would have the same effect, if we kept our distance. And the others are almost as dangerous."

"How many of these things are there?" asked Woody.

"Hold on, I'll ask." said Mickey, putting the shades back on

AI: As a matter of interest, how many Rahkshi are there? Do they tend to stick in groups?

CI: That depends. Are the ones you're dealing with organized?

AI: It would seem so

CI: A Makuta can create any number of kraata, and all they need is a source of protodermis to turn them into Rahkshi. If they're in any way organized, there's a Makuta behind this, guiding them

AI: Our current chief enemy called himself a Makuta. He said his name was Teridax

CI: Teridax? Are you sure?

AI: I'm sure

CI: Then your situation is far direr than I thought. I shall enquire about pinpointing your location with our leader. Until then, stay alive

AI: These Makuta, do they have any weaknesses?

CI: If you have access to light-based powers, they might be able to harm a Makuta. They work just as well on Rahkshi actually.

CI: But even then, it would be too risky. Fight him only as a last resort

AI: Out of curiosity, if I killed Teridax, would the other Rahkshi die, or fall into disorganized chaos which would inable their deaths?

CI: WHAT DID I JUST SAY!?

AI: Okay! Sorry!

CI: DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT FIGHTING TERIDAX! The powers of any Makuta are immense, and Teridax is the most dangerous of them all

AI: I'll try to get the Orb and Stitch back without fighting him then, any ideas?

CI: HE HAS AN INSTRUMENT OF TIME?!

AI: Yes, and he's taken control of one of my party somehow

CI: Then there is not much time

CI: I am so sorry, but I'm going to have to go. I will try to be back on soon

CI: Until then, try to get the orb back, but please don't try anything too foolish

AI: I'll try

ChroniclerIlluminated (CI) has logged out

"What did you find out?" asked Woody.

"Just more reasons we need out of this cell." He said.

"Good." Said Woody. "Because I think I have a plan…"

* * *

><p>"Hey, Blade." Said one man, noticing his companion looking around. "You sense something?"<p>

"I sense something alright." Said the Blade. "But this one's either a whole lot bigger or a whole lot more powerful…"

"You think that's him?" The first man asked, drawing a pistol and gesturing to what looked like a tall skeleton in a suit.

"Greetings gentlemen!" Jack said jovially, walking toward the two men. One of them wore a black bodysuit with a white skull on the chest, as well as a long black coat and various firearms. The other wore a black jacket and sunglasses as well as a katana on his back and many firearms, though not as many as the other man. "What brings you to Halloween town?"

Blade shot Jack through the eye.

"Jack!" The mayor cried.

"That one gave me the creeps." Blade muttered. "Man, how did he do that?"

"I think it's the way he walks." The other guy shivered. "And his power… yeah, that was like looking death in the face."

Blade frowned. "Kind of suspicious… taking Death out in one shot…"

"I say, what good aim you have!" Jack said, coming up behind them, clapping his boney hands together.

Both men spun around. Blade immediately spun back to keep his eye on the skeleton that was still laying on the ground, reloading his gun with special weaponry as the man with the skull fired a warning shot at his bow tie. "Don't come any closer, skeleton." Said the man with the skull. "I don't know what kind of hellhole this is, but we're going to shut it down!"

"Hellhole?" Jack asked in shock. "I assure you, this place is no hellhole. You must have taken a wrong turn at albequerque, because this is one of the most beautiful places in the land! Why, I could live here a dozen times over!"

And with chilling smiles, twelve Jack Skellingtons emerged from the shadows of the buildings. The Master of Fright was in his natural environment.

"There's no mistake." Blade said, back to back with his comrade. "This place has access to the mortal world, and the monsters that live here been using it quite regularly. Werewolves, vampires, witches, zombies and all kinds of other monsters meeting here. I don't even know what the freak in the top hat is. All of them using this as a base to prey on humanity, without repercussions. That changes today. Oh there's no mistake… we're shutting this place down."


	39. Jailbreak

"Hellhole?" Jack asked in shock. "I assure you, this place is no hellhole. You must have taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque, because this is one of the most beautiful places in the land! Why, I could live here a dozen times over!"

And with chilling smiles, twelve Jack Skellingtons emerged from the shadows of the buildings. The Master of Fright was in his natural environment.

"There's no mistake." Blade said, back to back with his comrade. "This place has access to the mortal world, and the monsters that live here been using it quite regularly. Werewolves, vampires, witches, zombies and all kinds of other monsters meeting here. I don't even know what the freak in the top hat is. All of them using this as a base to prey on humanity, without repercussions. That changes today. Oh there's no mistake… we're shutting this place down."

Blade only saw the tombstone flying towards him an instant before it would have hit him. As it was, he only narrowly avoided it.

The huge grave marker shattered into pieces on the ground as the half-vampire looked around to see three strangers at the entrance to the graveyard, none of the human. The six-armed creature with dark-blue fur who had thrown the gravestone at him reached for another one. On his left stood a black unicorn-like creature that seemed to have many holes through her horn, legs and tail, as well as a ghostly blue mane and insectoid wings, while on his right, a black reptilian creature in silver armour with large silver claws generated a spinning disk of some kind in her hand.

"Who the hell are these guys?" asked Punisher.

"Allies of Teridax, if I had to take a guess." Said Jack, before taking a closer look. "If you'll excuse me gentlemen, I need to… wait a minute, is that…"

Jack was forced to leap to the side as Stitch hurled the second gravestone at him, while Blade and the Punisher opened fire on the three. While his two companions ducked behind gravestones, Stitch only laughed, while everything from silver to enchanted titanium bounced off his skin. "Bullets won't stop me! I'm have achieved maximum fluffy!"

As the two black creatures leapt toward Punisher and Blade, Stitch tore up another gravestone, a massive fixture, adorned with an angel statue.

One of Jack's smoke-like bodies raced up close and tried to knock Stitch off-balance before he threw the crypt marker. Snitch hissed in disdain. "I hate magic!" He roared, swinging the angel at him.

Jack was sent flying back through several gravestones before crashing down, landing in a heap. Stitch sniffed the air, then narrowed his eyes at the real Jack Skellington, who stood fearless in the shadowy town square.

Stitch leapt over to Jack, knocking his shadow doubles out of the way, and raised the tombstone high above his head. Blade and the Punisher peppered him with bullets, but they didn't even manage to distract him. The Punisher quickly took out his grenade launcher, hoping to destroy the statue at least, if not the creature holding it. But they were blasted aside by the winged unicorn before he had the chance.

Stitch hesitated for a second, just a second where he seemed to be himself again. But then rage overtook his face again, and with a snarl he dropped the huge slab of stone on top of Jack.

There was a sharp crunch.

"Why do I feel like we dodged a bullet, but got sighted by a tank?" The Punisher asked.

"Who are you people?" Asked Blade, getting to his feet.

"I am Roodaka, one of Teridax's five generals." Said the lizard-woman. "Some call me Swarm Queen… you may call me nothing."

She lunged at him with her large silver claws, but Blade parried the attack with his sword. Only when he had blocked it did he see the spinning disk concealed in her claw. The disk flew out and hit him, causing him to almost immediately fall to sleep.

"Sleep spinners." Explained Roodaka to Punisher. "Not as potent as my old Mutation Spinners, but effective for the task at hand."

The Punisher lunged at her, but she dodged to the side, and hit him with another sleep spinner, knocking him out cold."Has the skeleton been dealt with?" She asked, as Stitch rejoined her.

"Yup. He's over there, crushed under that tombstone. Kinda fitting, don't you think?" Stitch scratched his head.

"Perfect." Roodaka smirked. "You've done well dog." Stitch's paw itched, as though he was going to kill her for her patronizing, but his hand fell limp again.

"Anyway, the hellspawn should also be in this place." She strutted away, waving at Stitch. "You take these two back to headquarters while the two of us pay him a visit…"

Stitch sniffed the air. "It smells like he's already left. We should catch up to him and take him out before Sephiroth or Kahn steals all the fun…"

* * *

><p>The three Rahkshi transporting Blade and Punisher entered the room to see Woody wearing an unusual pair of sunglasses, and no sign of Samus, Peter or Mickey. Suddenly alert, the Vacuum and Plasma Rahkshi pointed their staffs at Woody, Buzz and Snake while the Magnetism Rahkshi scanned the area for the others.<p>

The Magnetism Rahkshi found them… too late.

Mickey leapt down from his spot above the door, onto the tan and red Rahkshi's back, wrapping the chain to his shackles around its neck, while Peter and Samus dropped onto the other two. The red Rahkshi activated its abilities, coating itself in the destructive plasma, hoping to vaporize the sorcerer.

What it hadn't planned on vaporising were his shackles. Or the floor under its feet.

The magically protected Micker leaped off of his back, as the Rahkshi of Plasma fell into another cell beneath the one where Woody, Buzz, Mickey, Peter, Samus and Snake were incarcerated.

"There are more cells in this place?" asked Peter.

"Either that, or he fell into the sewers." Said Mickey, freeing himself from the shackles.

He dodged a high-power blast of air from the Vacuum Rahkshi, which blasted through four metal walls and left a large dent in a third. Before he could cast any spells, however, the wall behind him warped, bending around him to leave him imprisoned in metal. Metal that was slowly contracting around him…

"GUM GUM…" shouted a voice from somewhere through the hole. Woody and the others looked through the hole to see a teenage boy dressed in a red shirt, blue shorts and a straw hat standing just past the hole in their cell's wall, his arms stretching all the way back to the dent four cells down…

"BAZOOKA!"

The boy's arms shot forward, hitting the Rahkshi of Magnetism and blasting him through another wall. Unfortunately, this was the wall connected to the outside, and all the air in the cells began to be sucked out into the vacuum of space.

"Quick! Everyone into the airlock!" Shouted Woody. As he and the others quickly ducked into the airlock the Rahkshi had been using, Peter and Buzz dragging the still-asleep Blade and Punisher.

The boy who had blasted the Rahkshi out into space jumped into the cell. "You won't get away that easily!" He roared into space, one hand clutching his hat, the other clutching the wall.

"Help!" Mickey yelled, as he watched four other prisoners race into the airlock.

The kid glanced at Mickey. "Hey, these tinheads keeping you locked up too?"

Mickey nodded, unable to speak for lack of oxygen.

The kid snickered, apparently unaffected by the harsh vacuum of space. "Me too! Don't worry though, I'm busting out of here! Let's get you to your friends!"

He bent the metal encasing Mickey out of the way and pulled him into the airlock as well, just before the door shut.

"I guess you guys must have been from the other cells." Said Woody.

"I'm Peter." Introduced Peter, floating arrogantly like the kid he currently was. "The others are Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Mickey Mouse, Samus Aran, Solid Snake and… I have no idea who those two are".

"I'm Luffy, future Pirate King!" Said the boy in the straw hat.

"Pirate King?" Peter, now middle aged, whipped out his knife. He'd had to deal with more than his share of pirates. Unfortunately, he didn't have a knife at hand. Searching around, he flipped Woody onto his back, and pulled his boot off. "Avast!" He yelled, attempting to impale to pirate king on Woody's spurs –

Until he collapsed, dead of old age.

The newcomers stared at him.

"He does that." Woody said, taking his boot back and putting it back on. "Sorry."

"Okay, well… I'm Might Guy, handsome devil of the Hidden Leaf Village, at your service." Said a man in a green jumpsuit and jacket with shiny black hair in a bowl cut, giving the group a thumbs-up that might have been enthusiastic if he hadn't just watched Peter Pan die.

"And I am Rock Lee, Guy's student." Said a teenage boy who looked like a younger clone of Guy; same clothes, same haircut, same enthusiastic demeanor.

"I'm Killer Bee, fool ya fool." Said a relatively muscular dark-skinned man with blond hair and a goatee, wearing sunglasses and a white uniform of some kind. "Jinjuuriki of the Eight Tails, yo"

"Don't forget about me!" Said a voice from around their feet. The group looked down to see what appeared to be a small yellow stuffed lion. "I'm Kon!"

"Call me Beast Boy." said another teenager, with green skin and hair. "But dudes, seriously – that kid just died. Is he gonna be okay?"

Peter Pan gasped for air, and he resumed his charge. "Die pirate!" The old young man rasped, striking Luffy with the fist that used to hold Woody's spur.

"That is so cool!" Luffy gasped. "You died and came back to life!"

"Yeah?" Peter puffed up his chest. "I've been doing it since I was a kid!"

"Are you a marine?" Luffy asked.

"No!" Peter Pan shook his head. "I don't like marines either!"

"Do you have to poop?" Luffy asked.

Peter Pan stared at him. "What sort of question is that?" He asked. "Of course not!"

Luffy smacked his fist into his palm. "It's settled then." He said with burning eyes. "… Do you want to join my crew?"

"Dude!" Beast Boy cried. "You can't just ask random people to join your crew!"

"I'll stop asking when it stops working." Luffy said with a smirk.

"Nice to meet you all." Said Mickey, before turning to Woody. "Now where does the plan go from here?"

"Honestly?" Woody frowned. "I hadn't planned on the wall being taken out. And I don't know how long the air in this airlock will last with all of us in here… Especially those new guys, they all seem a bit… hyper."

Luffy was gesturing to Beast Boy. "Hey, watch this." He whispered. He pulled a section of the wall away, opening it up to the vacuum of space. His rubber face flapped funnily around in the vacuum, before he put the wall section back with a wide smile.

Beast Boy and Kon would have laughed, if they weren't gasping for air.

"Do not open the door you fool!" Rock Lee yelled, slapping Luffy ineffectively.

"If you wouldn't mind fixing that wall, then I might have a plan." Woody explained weakly to Mickey.

"You want me to just… fix the wall?" Asked Mickey.

"Can you do that?" Woody asked.

"All the powerful and arcane wonders you've seen me use, and you don't think I can fix a wall?" Sighed Mickey. "Honestly! I've already done it. Take a look"

Woody opened the airlock, making everyone jump for a second. Sure enough, the scrap metal from where the Rahkshi of Magnetism had trapped Mickey had been melted into a perfect seal over the hole.

"Alright, we've got air for a while." Said Buzz, who had his helmet on anyways. "What next?"

"We go out there, find this Teridax guy, and kick his ass!" Luffy yelled triumphantly.

"Yes! Teridax and his armies will be no match for the power of YOUTH!" Added Guy.

"Youth power!" Peter Pan cheered, before he collapsed, sporting a whispy beard.

"Don't you think you should worry about the fact there's no air outside this floating space prison before you go charging off to fight?" Asked Samus amidst cheers of agreement from the freed occupants of the other cells. "I mean, we are in space"

"We are?" Luffy asked in surprise.

"Dude, you were just opening the wall into space." Beast Boy pointed out.

"You mean the mystery hole was powered by space power?" Luffy asked, with stars of wonder in his eyes.

"Your grasp of the basic knowledge of space and physics is appalling… and disturbing." Buzz Lightyear observed.

"First of all," Said Woody. "There must be a lot of other prisoners here. Mickey, can you see through the walls of the adjacent cells with your magi…"

He stopped, seeing something rise out of the hole in the ground.

"Everyone, get down!" He shouted, as the plasma Rahkshi flew toward them. Everyone ducked just in time, the Rahkshi flying overhead and melting through another wall.

"They can fly?" Snake asked in surprise. "Why did they need the magnetic ones if they can fly?"

"Their flight probably requires an atmosphere." Suggested Buzz.

"Or maybe they can't maintain their more focused powers like the air bubbles when their staff is split in two like that." Added Mickey. His eyes widened with shock. "Oh, Ishvanti, we need to get Stitch back, we're starting to sound like him.

Woody noticed Luffy, Guy, Lee and Bee had adopted fighting stances. "Either way, don't get any ideas. That plasma coating will melt you if you touch him".

"Then we'll just have to hit him without touching him!" Said Guy. "Leave this one to me. Sixth Gate of Joy, open!"

The whole prison suddenly began shaking as Guy began releasing huge amounts of energy. His skin appeared to have turned red, and his hair looked as though he were in the middle of a storm. As the plasma Rahkshi swooped in for another attack, he let loose a barrage of punches that released high-speed fireballs that engulfed the Rahkshi, as well as destroying the surrounding walls…

"Wasn't this supposed to be a stealth-based operation?" Asked Snake as the rubble settled.

"I don't like this prison's odds of surviving a few more hours." Buzz noted.

Woody was about to answer, but a screen in one of the cells (currently hanging by a bundle of wires) suddenly lit up.

"Did you miss me?" Stitch asked on the screen, his fur and eyes back to normal.

"Stitch!" Cried Peter. "How did you…"

"I heard a certain mouse was beginning to miss my eccentric charm." He said, winking in Mickey's scowling direction.

"I used the sunglasses to send a message to Halloween Town, and Jack got it when he went back there." Explained Woody, with a wide grin. "Basically, it instructed him to fake his death…"

"Is that even a term that can be used on Jack?" Asked Mickey.

(flashback)

Stitch raised the tombstone high above Jack's head, "ignoring" the gunfire from Blade and the Punisher before the two were blasted aside by Chrysalis. In actuality, the shots were destroying Kraata one by one, the sluglike parasites unable to conjure up a defence to the unexpected attack. As Stitch slowly regained control, he was about to throw aside the tombstone and fight back against Teridax's two generals, but Jack reached up to him.

"Play along with it." whispered Jack. "Squash me under the gravestone. Woody has this all figured out".

Stitch dropped the huge slab of stone on top of Jack, leaving only his feet showing.

"Has the skeleton been dealt with?" Roodaka asked, as Stitch rejoined the others. Blade and Punisher lay unconscious at their feet.

"Yup. He's over there, crushed under that tombstone. Kinda fitting, don't you think?"

"Perfect." Roodaka smirked. "You've done well dog." She began to strut away. "Anyway, the hellspawn should also be in this place. You take these two back to headquarters while the two of us pay him a visit…"

Stitch pretended to sniff the air. "It smells like he's already left." He said, lying through his teeth. "We should catch up to him and take him out before Sephiroth or Kahn steals all the fun…"

He tried to hold back his smile, as Roodaka fell for it, and as he noticed the Sleep Spinner the Punisher had managed to steal…

"…then after I got back, I broke into one of the control rooms. Mickey, can you apparate yourself and the others over here?"

"Not unless I were familiar to the spot." Mickey said with a frown. "How about the place we fought Teridax and his group?"

"It'll have to do." Said Stitch. "I doubt anyone's in that particular room right now anyway."

Mickey turned to the others. "I can only take about six people at maximum. Samus, could you find the main bridge of this prison ship and pilot it somewhere safe?"

"Roger that." Said Samus. "But will you be alright on your own?"

"Which six are you bringing?" Asked Luffy.

"I was planning on just bringing myself, Woody, Buzz and Peter, plus two of you guys." Said Mickey. "Sorry"

"It's okay." Luffy nodded. "We'll just have to figure out our own way to beat this guy!"

"I could teleport you." Spawn offered, now in view on the screen alongside Jack and Stitch. "These guys seem like they'd make a good distraction, and I've got a score to settle with Teridax…"

"Not if I get to him first!" Luffy cheered. He raced down through the prison. "Come on guys! Let's go!"


	40. The Silver Armour

Woody, Buzz, Mickey and Peter arrived at the sight of their previous ill-fated scuffle, but no-one else was there… yet.

"So, now that we're out of that prison, what do you plan to do about Teridax?" Asked Mickey. "CI said it wouldn't be a good idea to go up against him under normal circumstances, let alone now he has the Orb. Then again, CI didn't know about my sorcery..."

"We should probably get moving." Said Buzz. "No doubt this ship has security cameras".

"Looks like it's a bit late for that", said Peter, pointing to a group of three armoured soldiers walking towards them.

Their armour was silver in colour, with large, round shoulders and one arm-cannon resembling those of Samus' armour, but domed helmet and what looked to be folded-in wings like those on Buzz's. Unlike Buzz's armour, the dome was translucent green instead of clear, making it difficult to see the face of the soldiers inside.

"Looks like they've been copying armour designs from your suit, and Samus', and combining them." Said Woody, drawing his pistol.

"Yeah." Buzz frowned. "So your six shooter's not going to do much good."

The armoured spacemen began shooting at them. Buzz tried to cut through one suit of armour with his laser. He aimed at a weak spot in his own armour, but that design flaw had been neatly covered with Samus' designs, and the beam was deflected off the silver surface. Woody's gun had no more luck, and Mickey tried a variety of spells with little effectiveness.

Finally, he tried one more spell, a ghostly wave of blue light emitting from his hands. There was a flash of blue inside the warrior's helmet, and the suit fell motionless. Mickey jumped slightly as a huge crash came from the other side of the room, where Buzz had cut out a section of the ceiling and dropped it on the other two, trapping them under the debris.

"What are those suits made of?" Asked Woody, shocked at the difficulty of taking down three common soldiers wearing those suits.

"Nothing we did could damage them." Said Mickey, with some trepidation. "I only beat this guy by using a spell that can phase through physical objects, and you only trapped the others under the ceiling."

Woody nodded, and an idea struck him. "Hey Buzz," He said. "Do you think you could use that suit? It shouldn't be too different than the one you're wearing, right?"

"The green glass creeps me out a little, but it IS a lot tougher." Buzz said.

"What if it's rigged to explode or something?" Asked Peter.

"No ordinary bomb could damage that thing, so bombs on the outside wouldn't hurt you, and bombs on the inside would only incinerate the wearer." Said Buzz. "That's a risk I'm willing to take."

"And I could magically block any bugs." Said Mickey.

"Alright, give it a try if you're sure." Said Woody, still not convinced. Despite the toughness of the armour, it had seemed almost too easy to take a suit...

"So how far are we from this room you sent the others to?" Asked Blade as he, Jack, Stitch, Spawn and the Punisher tried to track down the others.

He and the Punisher had taken Spawn up on his offer of teleportation, along with Bee, Beast Boy, Kon, Guy and Lee, but the others had rushed off. They had no idea where Luffy was. He'd tried to 'make his own way across', and they had had no luck explaining to him that the prison was on a different starship from their enemies.

"No idea." Said Stitch. "This ship is huge. Probably the flagship, or at least flagshippish. The Kraata Teridax stuck all over me were all that stopped me getting lost before now. Don't worry though, with enough of us wandering around here someone's bound to find their way to something important...

One of the walls flickered with static. After the initial reaching for their weapons, the group realized it was a screen. It flickered to life, showing a dark room where Ghost Rider was chained, lit only by his flames.

A pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the shadows, somehow not lighting the area around them. "You have broken out of your chains and rose up against me once more." Said Teridax. "This was most foolish of you. Because of this, all of you shall die."

"Not if we have anything to say about it." Said Stitch, but Teridax went on.

"You think you are powerful enough to pose a threat to me. Some of you might even think yourself invincible. But even the mightiest warrior can fall."

Teridax stepped partially into the light of Ghost Rider's flaming head, and laid a hand on the shoulder of the spirit of vengence.

Immediately, Ghost Rider started to show signs of weakness. When he fell to his knees, Teridax lifted him in one hand. In a flash of light, Ghost Rider shattered into a thousand pieces, portals appearing all around the Makuta and suckin the pieces away.

"It need not come to this." Said Teridax. "I have what I need from most of you already. Bring me the other four Instruments of Time and I will allow you to go free. No-one else need die..."

They heard no more from this as Spawn destroyed the screen completely with a blast of Necroplasm.

"Never thought he could take out someone as strong as Ghost Rider so easily..." said Stitch.

"He already had Ghost Rider as a prisoner." Said Spawn. "He never stood a chance..."

"Well." Jack clapped his hand. "As I'm sure he has no intention of letting any of us live, even if we give him what he wants, I suggest we press on then, yes?"

"He's not going to get away with this..." said the Punisher.

"My. My. The dog has broken off his leash." Said a voice from behind them. They turned to see Roodaka and Kratos, Roodaka generating a Sleep Spinner as Kratos drew his blades. "I hear you're not taking Master Teridax up on his generous offer? Such a pity"

"I wondered which lackeys Teridax would send first." Said Stitch. "Weren't you the one who tried to make me play that humiliating game of fetch? I would worry about your own leash first..."

Roodaka lunged first, but Stitch grabbed her hand before her claws made contact. She begin to generate a spinner in her other hand, but before she could launch it, she fell into a deep sleep as the Punisher pushed the sleep spinner he had stolen from her in Halloween Town into her face.

She collapsed to the ground, and Stitch stepped over her, dusting his hands off.

"I have no leash." Said Kratos, blades drawn "Teridax does not control me!"

"Really?" said Stitch. "It seems as if he's been calling the shots the whole time. And the legends may be exaggerated a little, but the Ghost of Sparta I heard about would never have let Teridax be the only one with full control over such an Instrument."

Kratos lunged with a blade aimed at Stitch's chest, but the Experiment grabbed the flat edges of the blade with two hands. The blades inched closer to him, and as he was forced to hold back the blade with all four hands, his feet began to dig into the floor. Kratos threw the other blade, the chain connecting the two wrapping round Stitch's neck.

"Excuse us."

Kratos looked to the left. He'd almost forgotten Spawn, Blade, and Jack Skellington were standing there, pointing their weapons at him.

"Need a little help fuzzy?" Blade asked.

"…No, I can handle… this…" Stitch said with an effort.

"Oh, for crying out loud." Spawn blasted Kratos back against the wall, and as the spartan got back up, Spawn blasted him back again, this time through the wall, knocking him out.

"Thanks for that." Said Stitch. "Not that I didn't have him on the ropes."

"Just keep moving." Spawn rolled his eyes.

"Is he seriously going to try what I think he's going to try?" Snake asked, as Luffy took a deep breath and stepped into the airlock facing the flagship.

"He couldn't be THAT crazy..." Replied Samus, as the inside door of the airlock closed.

"GUM GUM..." Began Luffy, before the outside doors opened and all sound was lost.

"Looks like he IS that crazy..." Said Snake

"You shouldn't have let your friends go on without you." Shao Kahn scolded. He was standing over Peter's dying (again) body. "Did you think somehow you would be a match for me this time, after what I did to you last time?"

"Kill me all you want." Said Peter. "At least I'll come back..."

"Then perhaps I'll keep you as a plaything, and kill you again and again. See how many times you can die before your body is dead throughout every moment of your existence." Kahn whispered threateningly. "I'm sure that would provide me some amusement..."

The door to the room opened, sucking everything in it towards the door and the vaccum of space for a moment. "ROCKET!" Luffy screamed, before he pulled himself through and closed it.

"That was close." said Luffy to himself. "I forgot I couldn't yell and hold my breath at the same time... But it was so fun!"

"Who dares interrupt my duel!?" Demanded Kahn.

"Oi, old kid, it looks like you could use some help." Said Luffy, either not realising who Kahn was talking to or ignoring him completely.

"Like I'd take help from a pirate!" Said Peter, before Kahn grabbed him and threw him to the side.

"Oh, that's right." Luffy sighed. "Pirates are usually the bad guys. Well, let me know if you change your mind." And with that, he started walking off.

"No-one walks away from Kahn without my permission." Kahn grunted, swinging his hammer at Luffy's head, an attack that usually took his enemies' heads clean off but in this case only resulted in his head flying to one side on his elasticated neck and boinging back into place. Luffy turned round suddenly.

"Hey, you're one of Teridax's crew aren't you?"

"YOU'RE ONLY REALISING THAT NOW?" Exclaimed Peter.

"He and I have a few shared interests." Shao Kahn said with a sneer. "I suppose you could describe us as a crew."

Luffy punched the demonic ruler in the face. "You're weak." He said, not even bothering to watch the body crumple onto the ground.

Spawn threw open the doors of Teridax's personal chamber. The huge room was pitch black, the only visible light coming from a row of tubes containing Rahkshi down each side of the room, and the echo of the group's footsteps could be clearly heard.

"Alright guys." Blade said. "I've been down this road before. These tube monsters? They're going to wake up, bust out of their tubes, and try to kill us. It always happens. Just a head up."

"You don't need to tell me." Stitch said, tapping on the glass with interest. His head twisted 180 degrees on his neck, and he gave Blade a wide smile. "I used to be a monster in a tube."

"You have turned down my generosity." Teridax's voice boomed out of the shadows. "That shall be your last mistake..."

The tubes all shattered, allowing what had to be hundreds of Rahkshi of various colours, but after the glow of the tubes died down it became impossible to tell.

"Called it." Blade muttered.

"Just to be clear, you can all see in the dark, yes?" Stitch asked the team.

The answer was a unanimous yes.

The group fought back Rahkshi after Rahkshi, Spawn blasting them apart with his necroplasm, Stitch grabbing them and throwing them into the others or tearing them apart, Punisher gunning them down with a pair of small machine guns, Blade decapitating any that got near and Jack using his agility to use their powers against each other.

But they couldn't hold out forever...

Stitch recoiled. "What's wrong?" asked Jack.

"Burned my hands." Said Stitch. "Must have grabbed a Plasma one..."

He could see in the dark well enough, but he saw all in green. The others were having similar color problems.

Blade looked round for a split-second, before turning back to block a Rahkshi staff only to have his katana shatter as the brown Rahkshi's staff made contact. Spawn destroyed the Rahkshi with his Necroplasm before it could finish off Blade, but in doing so left himself open to the poisonous green Rahkshi on his other side...

Suddenly, a blade flew out of nowhere, stabbing the Rahkshi through the chest before an attached chain pulled it towards the blade's owner, who slashed it in two.

"Came to your senses, did you?" Asked Spawn.

"You were right." Kratos said, stepping forward to join the others. "Teridax has been manipulating me. But I am on no man's leash."

"What about the leash of a god?" Teridax asked, emerging from the shadows. "You seem to have made short of my Rahkshi, But your efforts are in vain. Without the Orb, you might have stood a chance. But now, my powers stretch throughout time and space"

"Then let us see the weight of these powers!" Cried another voice from nowhere. The lights in the room switched on, blinding everybody with brilliant white. Guy ran out from behind the team, faster than their eyes could track.

"Leaf Hurricane!" He shouted, delivering a powerful spinning kick to Teridax's side.

A slight cracking sound was heard before Teridax blasted the green-clad ninja back against one of the less-damaged Rahkshi tubes with a cyclone, shattering it entirely.

A second blur flew through the door, a red glowing beast in the shape of an ox with eight octopus-like tentacles instead of back legs. "Lariat!" shouted the beast in Bee's voice as his arm collided with Teridax's stomach. Teridax was about to throw him aside with a wave of darkness before Krato's chain blade stabbed into his hand, the chain wrapping around it twice. Teridax teleported away from Bee and the chain, appearing between his attackers and the way out to see Luffy running towards him through the corridor. "GUM-GUM... BAZOOKA!"

Teridax grabbed Luffy's arm with ease, swinging him round like a whip to knock back Stitch, Blade and Jack, who were leaping towards him from the other side.

"Got you!" Said Woody, catching the ball of heroes.

Mickey launched a ball of light into Teridax's side where Guy's kick had weakened the armour. The armour shattered, leaving a crack a little bigger than a human head in Teridax's side, through which black gas started to spill.

"You guys took your time." Said Stitch, getting up.

"We were held back a little by Teridax's allies." Guy said.

"That Sephiroth guy sure was a handful, but with some help I turned him to landfill." Said Bee.

"Not really." Said Beast Boy. "You only forced him to admit you were a skilled fighter, then he left to see if he could find that Cloud guy."

"Handful rhymes with landfill, yo." Bee said crossly.

Luffy picked his nose.

"It... doesn't really." Said Woody.

"If you're in search of rhymes, perhaps I could lend a hand?" Jack asked, with perhaps a bit more glee than was necessary.

"Focus, people!" said Buzz.

Teridax teleported to the back of the chamber, clutching the hole in his side where the darkness seemed to be leaking out, and summoned another portal. Sephiroth, Vader, Kahn, Kratos, Roodaka, Chrysalis and another Stitch (still crawling with Kraata) drifted out, all seemingly unharmed.

These must be their past selves, thought Woody. Before we fought them...

"Hey!" Luffy yelled. "It's those jerks!"

Spawn charged forward, followed by the others.

One by one, as Teridax's allies from the past moved in to attack them, members of the group broke off to hold them back; Kratos, Bee, Peter, Blade, Punisher, Jack and Stitch, until only Spawn, Woody, Buzz, Luffy and Mickey got through unhindered.

Teridax fired a barrage of lasers, spheres of darkness, bolts of lightning and heat rays at the group, but Luffy and Spawn dodged or blocked each one, preventing any of them from hitting Woody. Spawn got to the Makuta first, colliding with Teridax in a Necroplasm-infused punch to the face that shattered more of Teridax's armour. But as the Makuta fell, his body shifted, tendrils bursting from his chest and binding Spawn, pulling him down with him

"Spawn!"

But it was too late. Spawn and Teridax both fell, plunging into a pool of silvery liquid. As Woody, Buzz and Mickey ran over to the now-bubbling pool, bursts of light came from the pool, as though a battle was raging beneath its surface, but they could see nothing of Spawn or the Makuta beneath the surface.

"What's going on in there?" Asked Woody.

"At a guess?" said Mickey. "Spawn and Teridax have lost their physical bodies to this liquid. They're still fighting in there, but they're battling throughout that pool as pure energy."

"If one of us went in there..." Began Woody.

"They're both basically dark energy beings contained in a physical body, it's how they do their shapeshifting. You're not." Answered Stitch, holding back Shao Kahn's hammer with three hands while his forth held Kahn's hand back from tearing his throat out. "You'd either die instantly –"

"Or become fused with either Teridax, Spawn or both." Mickey finished for him, crossly.

"Maybe Woody couldn't." said Buzz. "But with this armour, maybe I could?"

"The suit is partially composed of the same material as the liquid, except non-energised and solid." Said Stitch. "Theoretically it would work, but Teridax could just possess the suit..."

"I could enchant the suit to resist dark intervention." said Mickey. "But if you dived in there, it would only be to retrieve the Orb. There's nothing we can do for Spawn right now. Also, keep in mind, the enchantments will only last five minutes in that intense of darkness."

"Understood." Buzz said, as Mickey applied the enchantments. "I'll be back before the time is up!"

Woody and the others waited for Buzz to return.

"We have the Orb, let's get out of here." Said Peter. Shao Kahn, Sephiroth and Vader lay unconscious on the ground as Blade, Punisher, Luffy, Guy, Lee, Kon, Beast Boy, Killer Bee, Stitch, Jack and Peter rejoined the others.

"Not yet." Woody said. "Buzz is still in there.

But eventually, the five minutes had passed.

"Buzz!" shouted Woody. "Buzz! Come on out buddy, don't do this to us!"

The silvery waters were silent in response.

Until suddenly, a mass of many-limbed silver mutant figures emerged.

"Everybody get back!" Stitch yelled, somewhat in awe of the sight. Most of the liquid drained away, and the strange silver beings melted away one by one until only two humanoid figures remained, the liquid running off them to reveal Buzz and Spawn.

But something was wrong.

"Stay back!" cried Buzz, his armour giving off an aura of darkness. "My armour's been taken over!"

"I'll deal with this." Said Mickey, conjuring a ball of light in his hands and launching it at Buzz. The darkness parted around the domed helmet, glowing cracks appearing in its surface. Spawn ran up to Buzz and punched the helmet, shattering the glass, before pulling Buzz out of the armour.

The armour raised an arm, firing a blast from its arm-cannon at Spawn, who dodged the blast effortlessly, before Mickey launched another ball of light at the armour blasting it into a wall. Woody summoned another portal, dropping Buzz's original armour in front of him.

"Are we done here?" Peter asked.

"We should probably finish these three off before we leave." Said the Punisher, cocking his gun at Vader, Kahn, and Sephiroth.

"Agreed." Kratos said.

"That would be unwise", said Mickey. "Teridax has messed with time around them enough as it is without us complicating matters."

"Mickey's right." Woody said.

Before the others could argue, a portal formed beneath them and whisked the three away.

"Did... you summon that?" Mickey asked.

"No..." said Woody, conjuring up a portal. "Come on guys, let's go before someone else gets here looking for the Orb."

Luffy, Kon and Beast Boy raced through first, and Peter, Mickey, Bee, Stitch, Buzz, Guy and Lee all followed.

Woody only just saw the blade coming in time to duck. Jack wasn't so lucky, his head rolling across the room as his body toppled through the portal.

Spawn caught the Orb in one hand as it fell from Woody's hands, quickly closing the portal and trapping the others on the other side. In the other he held Sephiroth's Masamune.

"Spawn! What's going on?" asked Woody.

"Fool." 'Spawn' laughed. "You assumed my identity from my appearance?"

"Then... you're..." Began Woody, reaching for his gun, but Teridax fired a laser from Spawn's eyes and cut the pistol in two. As he advanced toward Woody he heard Blade, Punisher and Kratos draw their weapons. Without looking round, dark hands erupted from his back, pinning the three to the walls.

Then a bolt of energy hit him in the hand, destroying his righ hand completely and sending the Orb rolling across the ground. Woody looked in the direction of the blast to see Buzz's possessed armour struggle to its feet.

If Teridax is here, then the armour must be...

Teridax was more focused on something else.

The stump where Spawn's hand had been was bleeding. It had been so long since Teridax had been a flesh-and-blood creature, the shock left him stunned.

But not for long.

Woody grabbed Jack's skull as he and Teridax-Spawn dived for the orb. They both grabbed it simultaneously, and both tried to summon a portal at the same time.

The two tumbled through time and space, emerging for a split-second in places either of them had thought to go, before falling through another portal in a whirl of colours and sounds. Finally, they both lost their grip on the golden sphere, sending Woody (and Jack's head), Teridax and the Orb of Continua flying off through seperate portals...

"...and that's how I ended up here." Explained Woody.

"Obviously Teridax though he'd try to flee back home." Tahu said. "But where is he now?"


	41. Masters of the Key

_**Before we start this chapter, here's a quick summary of our heroes and where they have gotten themselves to:**_

_**Cloud, Ezio, Tahu, Takanuva, Optimus Prime, Omega Supreme, Grimlock, Micro-Ice, Kernor, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, Shinji Ikari, Rei Ayanami, Deadpool, Dash, Dante, Po, The Furious Five, Bigby, Taokaka, Eddy, Hobbes, Shen, Tobias, Superman, Sonic, Rex, Woody and Jack's head are inside the Great Spirit Robot.**_

_**Trafalgar Law, Zig-Zag, the Preacher, Jigen and Nightwing are still missing after vanishing before the battle at the duplicate hotels**_

_**Kratos, Spawn, Samus, Snake, Kratos, Blade and The Punisher were last seen on Teridax's flagship**_

_**Calvin has been captured by Maleficent and her allies, and has not been seen since.**_

_**Zero, Metaknight, Ryu, Larten Crepsley, Sora, Taskmaster, Kairi, Rayman, Sparkster, Kari Kamiya,  
>Gatomon, Sly Cooper and E-123 Omega were last seen heading to medieval France<strong>_

_**Tintin, Namah, Klaus Baudelaire and Kurt Wagner are in Jurassic Laurasia. Elsewhere in the same epoch and continent are Lupin III, Cole McGrath, Nathan Drake, John Marston and the Dragonborn**_

_**James Heller, Gaara, Batman, Riku, Brom, Sirius Black were said to be "Running an important errand", but their location is unknown**_

_**Got all that? Good**_

Mickey, Stitch, Buzz, Peter, Guy, Lee, Kon, Beast Boy and Bee emerged in what appeared to be alien jungle, grey clouds covering the afternoon sky. The only sign of human life was a run-down metal building with a huge hole in the roof.

They looked to each other, silently asking whether they should head to the building. Before they reached a silent decision, they heard a clattering of bones and looked round to see Jack tumble, headless, through the portal before it abruptly began to close.

"Woody! Jack!" Peter raced towards the portal, but it was too late. The group caught one glimpse of Spawn holding a long sword and slashing at Woody before the portal closed behind them.

"We've got to go back and help them!" Luffy yelled.

"The Orb's on that side now," sighed Mickey. "There's nothing we can do for them."

The group took another look at the ramshackle building, before deciding that Luffy's shout had dispelled any need for secrecy. "Does anyone else find this place weirdly familiar?" Stitch asked, looking around. "I've never even seen plants like this before, but something about this whole place seems..."

"Familiar? It should." said a voice from above. In a flash of blue, three strangers appeared atop the decrepit building. At the front stood a gorilla, a gold key hanging around his neck. On either side of him stood a man in yellow and green armour and goggles and a blue-skinned woman with wild red hair, wings and a tail.

"This is the hangar where you imprisoned Deathwing and Biollante." the gorilla continued. "Though it has been a long time since you last saw it…"

"Did I?" said Luffy. "I don't remember imprisoning anyone…"

"Not you Luffy, us," said Stitch, in a reassuring tone. "Now that he mentions it, it does look familiar, but why would Woody take us back here?"

"My colleagues once visited a city by the name of Rabanastre", said the ape, taking the key around his neck into his hand. "It was there that I obtained a powerful tool that allowed me to lock and unlock time itself"

The Key to the Past thought Mickey. It wasn't Gaara's enemy who took it after all…

"But I found the time locked away by this key was no more resistant to the breakdown than any other," Gorilla Grodd said. "To stabilize it, I would need another Instrument. Perhaps even all of them. So I separated a small group from amongst your midst and took over the body of one in order to free Biollante and Deathwing and take the half-Orb and Gauntlet in the process. Dogbert's mercenaries only aided me in that goal."

"Why tell us all this?" asked Buzz. "And what does this have to do with why Woody took us back here?"

"He could see the Kraata still clinging to me from when they overwhelmed me back in Rabanastre," Stitch explained, in a flash of realization. "When the Orb temporarily recompleted itself, you knew I'd bring it back to the other half…"

"Then you planted the idea in our subconscious to return to this hangar, didn't you?" Mickey asked, catching onto Stitch's train of thought.

"Indeed," said Grodd. "Though I expected you would bring it with you to your destination"

"So… he's your enemy?" asked Luffy.

Stitch looked questioningly at Mickey. Mickey shrugged, and nodded.

Stitch grinned widely. "Yes Luffy, this guy is our enemy."

"That's all I needed to hear!" he yelled, running toward the trio on the roof.

"Do you think I'd tell you this, if there was a chance you could stop me?" said Grodd's voice from behind Luffy. Luffy spun in place, fists swinging, but before he could take one step backwards he froze in place completely.

The others watching had only seen marginally more of what had happened than Luffy had. One minute Grodd had been on the roof, the next he was standing behind Luffy, withdrawing the Key from Luffy's back.

"What did he just…" began Peter.

"The Key to the Past allows the user to lock or unlock targets in time," Grodd boasted. "I see now that I have brought you all here in vain, as none of you know any more than I do where the Orb or Gauntlet are…"

"Well, ain't that a shame?"

Buzz, Mickey and Peter looked round to see Lotso step into the clearing, followed by Carnage and a group of unfamiliar but intimidating figures.

Near the front of the group stood a brutally scarred man wearing a striped jumper and hat, a young man with long black hair and a red eye in the centre of his chest, and a blue-skinned man with green braided hair wearing unusual armour with a green eyepiece over one eye. Following behind them were a large group of creatures somewhat resembling Carnage, but darker red with varying patterns of black.

"We'd been lookin' forward to both those Instruments we picked up on, but I guess just the Key'll have to do." Lotso said with a smirk.

"Then what're we waiting for?!" asked one of the Carnage lookalikes, a bulky one with a black pattern of triangles down one side, before he and about six of the others ran at Grodd.

"These poor specimens seem to have some variation on the Venom Symbiote you mentioned, Doctor Octavius." said Grodd. "I'll leave this to you…"

Doctor Octopus nodded, and then he was gone. The symbiotes approached were already lunging, but Grodd was looking very relaxed, even leaning on the frozen Luffy. Then the symbiotes froze. Four mechanical arms struck precisely, each hitting one of Carnage's spawn. With a flash of gold, each one was frozen in place.

Doctor Octopus smirked.

Duplicates of the Key? Thought Mickey. Grodd's been busy.

Before Doctor Octopus could withdraw the duplicate keys built into his mechanical arms, the larger symbiote host who had spoken earlier dodged around his frozen comrades and threw a punch at Octavius' face.

Reflexes born out of decades duelling Spider-man allowed the scientist to narrowly dodge the blow. Two of his metal arms lunged at the red beast before him, but the symbiote merely batted the arms aside. At the same time, another carrier leapt at him from behind, a gold drill emerging from his hand. Doctor Octopus ducked, the drill-user going over his head, at a calculated trajectory into his ally's chest. Or it would have, if the larger symbiote leapt back to avoid the attack.

The scientist noted from the body shape of the second being, with its spiked back, large clawed feet and red eyes visible glowing behind the monstrous symbiote face, that either this symbiote had taken a more exaggerated form or the host wasn't human.

In a flash, a long gold shaft with an eight-pointed flywheel at one side emerged from the elbow of the second symbiote as the creature spun round and slashed at him, but Octavius grabbed the creature's wrist with one mechanical hand. The symbiote screamed as his bionic appendage crushed half of the bones in his hand. He tore the symbiote's hand off, the weapon falling from the dead wrist.

Knocking aside three more symbiote-covered henchmen, he froze the ex-two handed wielder with another hand as he tried to snatch his weapon back. With a kick, he flipped the weapon back into the air before it touched the ground, and he caught it in a spare hand. He sent a confident glare at the few remaining symbiotes.

The rest of the pack retreated.

"Looks like Wesker's improvements haven't come to much in this case." Said the blue-skinned man.

"Now now Zarbon, these were only early prototypes." Said Lotso. "And incomplete ones at that."

"I could tell." Doctor Octopus drawled. He raised a confident eyebrow at the one symbiote that didn't run. "They're almost as disappointing as their father."

Carnage hissed. "My turn." He snarled, stepping forward.

"No!" Lotso said sternly. "He's baitin' you!"

"Let him amuse himself." Zarbon said. "The good doctor is on an adrenaline rush from beating such poor copies of his arch nemesis."

"And what about the others?" Lotso asked, nodding to the assembled heroes.

Zarbon smirked, before looking to the skies. "Woody and his comrades have bigger fish to deal with…"

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. Doctor Octopus around to see the source of the quakes before his arms went wild, flailing violently and giving off sparks. Buzz looked to the readings on the wrist part of his armour to find all the measurement devices gone haywire. The clouds above them suddenly parted as though a great circular hole had been cut in them, revealing a gigantic reptilian form hovering above the Earth.

"…Much, much bigger." Said Zarbon.


	42. SpaceGodzilla's attack

As the colossal beast hovered overhead, Grodd took the Key into his hand. "Demona, contact Biollante and Deathwing." He instructed. "I shall…" There was a mighty 'CRACK'.

Before he could finish, a great chunk of earth from beneath his feet tore itself free of the ground beneath him and began to lift into the air, carrying Grodd, Demona and the remains of the hangar with it.

Grodd took the Key and dug it into his own arm, unlocking what appeared to be a door built into his arm and pulling out a huge laser gun far too huge to fit inside. Flicking the door shut and taking hold of the large firearm with both hands, he fired at SpaceGodzilla's body with it, leaving a noticeable gash across his chest, but the kaiju released his telekinetic grasp on the ground where they were standing and focused instead on a force field around himself. Grodd and Demona leapt off before the chunk of earth hit the ground, crumbling into pieces.

"What should we do, Guy-sensei?" Asked Lee. "If both these groups are our enemies, then…"

"Personally, I don't plan to get involved until the opportunity to nab that key comes up." Said Stitch. "Unless you'd like to step between the two of them, in which case best of luck…"

"Might miss your chance soon." Said Mickey, looking over towards Grodd. "Look"

A huge spacecraft was coming into view, the front end emerging from across a time breach. Gorilla Grodd, Demona and Doctor Octopus were cloaked in a green light before dissolving into energy which flew toward the ship.

"Stitch!" Cried Peter, noticing a similar green glow around Stitch. Before either of them could do anything about it, he was beamed up into the ship with Grodd and Demona.

SpaceGodzilla looked up at the craft, the crystals on his shoulders glowing with an iridescent light.

"Nooooo!" Mickey yelled.

A beam of light shot from SpaceGodzilla's mouth that lit up the night as it tore through the side of the ship. As the ship flew upward, attempting to escape the enormous reptile, more crystals grew over the body of SpaceGodzilla, concealing his body, legs and tail. The engines along the back of the ship began to glow brighter.

"The ship's preparing to speed up!" Shouted Buzz to the others. "We have to go after it!"

Buzz's wings emerged from his back as Mickey and Peter rose from the ground. Mickey summoned a magical barrier just in time to block a bolt of electricity from SpaceGodzilla. "We'll have to get past him first! He'll shoot that ship down with Stitch inside it!"

'And Doctor Octopus is counting on us stopping SpaceGodzilla to make his escape.' Buzz realized grimly.

"Don't worry, we got this." Bee said, as a mass of brown octopus-like tentacles emerged from his back and similar brown armor formed around him. In a matter of seconds Bee had transformed into an enormous beast half minotaur, half octopus.

He took Guy in one hand as Guy's skin turned red, the energy building around him whipping the air around him as though he were caught in a storm. "Seventh Gate of Shock, Open!"

Bee threw Guy into the air, the green-clad man pulling back a fist. SpaceGodzilla turned back to face him, but kept one hand raised toward the starship, telekinetically holding it back from escaping into space.

"HIRUDORA!" Shouted Guy, and an enormous burst of wind blasted forth from his hands toward Spacegodzilla.

As it neared the monster, it took on the form of an enormous tiger, even approaching SpaceGodzilla's size. The tiger-shaped blast roared as it hit SpaceGodzilla, sending him flying to the ground, shattering the crystals around him and shaking the ground like an earthquake.

"Lee! Buzz! Get going!" Instructed Guy as SpaceGodzilla got back to his feet. "You go on and rescue Stitch. Bee and I will handle things here!"

"Right away, Guy-sensei!" Said Lee. As Mickey, Peter and Buzz flew up to the ship (still slowed down from its damages and SpaceGodzilla's electromagnetic interference) as fast as they could before it could get away, Lee and Beast Boy were surrounded by a glow similar to the one currently surrounding Mickey, as he magically lifted them up with him.

"Looks like we'll have to take care of this ourselves." Said Zarbon. Carnage sprouted wings, and gave him a wicked grin. The pair of them flew up after them.

Buzz, Mickey, Peter, Lee and Beast Boy only just managed to reach the vessel, laser a way in and get through an airtight door before the ship achieved its full speed and flew away from the desert-turned jungle and out across the sea…

* * *

><p>"If that's the case, this guy must have been frozen in time for well over two hundred years…" Said Axel, looking at Luffy from different angles as he stood seemingly embedded in an oak tree that must have grown around him. He looked as though he was part-way through throwing a punch, but apart from being entirely stationary and in a tree, there didn't look to be anything wrong with him.<p>

"Which makes it odd that the energy from the Key and Orb has lingered around here for so long, don't you think?" Sherlock asked. The rest of the group looked around nervously, wondering whether Sherlock was asking a serious question, or whether he knew everything and was just trying to outline their ignorance.

"Perhaps the effects of the Instruments store some of their energy?" Suggested Ed.

"Either way, Grodd and co. are obviously long gone by now and in that space of time the time fissures will have all moved." Axel sighed. "Another dead trail…"

"No." Sherlock said simply. He shook his head and took out a communication device. "Mr. Strider, how soon can you get here?"

"'Bout half a second ago." Said Dave, already standing behind him.


	43. Arms Race

Stitch sat inside a large transparent cube, not made of glass or plastic so far as he could tell. Nothing his alien strength could break through. Outside, Grodd and Demona settled into chairs, a large communication screen on one side. "So I suppose you captured me to tell you where any of the other Instruments are so you can keep your little Earth stable?" He asked, addressing the two villains rather than the screen. "What's the matter, one Instrument of Time not good enough?"

"It is a powerful tool indeed." Grodd mused. "With its power, I was able to lock away an entire Earth and stabilize the Time Cracks across its surface to a limited degree. But with only the Key, its time is limited".

"So your personal Earth stays stable, what happens to the rest of the universe?" Stitch asked, a cross between curious and disgusted.

"I will extend an offer of salvation to any who agree to our law." Grodd explained. "Those who oppose us will be destroyed."

"Gargoyles, apes, dragons, Biollante's spawn and now everyone else who's willing to live under your metaphorical boot?" Stitch asked mockingly. "Your Earth's going to be a little crowded, isn't it? The dragon and the overgrown houseplant might agree with you for now, but they're gathering numbers. What makes you think you can keep them in line, let alone hordes of cosmic refugees?"

Before Grodd could offer his rebuttal, a voice spoke up behind them. "It seems that the Key to the Past has remained firmly in your grasp."

Demona narrowed her eyes as the small white and blue Agori seemed to fade into existence. "We're in the middle of something Metus." She said, a warning snarl in her voice.

Ever since Deathwing had somehow granted Metus the ability to teleport between Fragmants, he had acted as an intermediary for Deathwing and Biollante, speaking on the behalf of the dragon and Kaiju.

"While we are in the middle of a war." He noted dryly. "And so far no other Instruments have come into our possession. Lord Deathwing feels that this partnership has become somewhat... one-sided".

"You may tell Deathwing that there are bigger problems afoot here, and I will address other matters as they become relevant." Grodd said. "I claimed this Instrument myself without Deathwing's assistance and its power is mine to wield. I'm preparing to follow a potential source on the locations of the other races."

He shifted himself onto his feet. "Naturally I won't stand in his way him if he sets out to claim one for himself." He said to Metus. "He mustn't doubt that. Please pass on to him, that it is the oldest cliché in history that villains end up betraying each other. If he doubts that we are villains, ask him to look at the largest party after the Instruments, and see how many call themselves heroes."

He brushed a fleck of lint off Metus' shoulder. "Please let him know that I don't want this relationship to be one-sided, and ending in some inevitable betrayal. I'll get him another Instrument as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Stow away your pride, and fill yourself with patience. Our time will come."

"Yes." Metus agreed, with a suspicious glare at him. "Yes, I rather believe it will."

As Metus faded away again, Stitch spoke up again, a slight smugness evidently brought on by Metus' inadvertent demonstration of his point. "You know, that was a pretty terrific speech, but I don't think Metus got the point."

With a sigh, Grodd flicked on another screen. Doctor Octopus appeared on the screen.

"Octavius." Commanded Grodd. "What is the status of the Omnidroid project?"

"Syndrome's design is impressive." said Doctor Octopus over another communication feed. "But I have been improving the armour using a synthetic Proto-Orichalcum I have been developing –"

"You're having a robot army constructed to keep Deathwing in line?" Stitch asked. "Interesting choice. And seeing as how you wouldn't be using this ship to get to where we're going if your scientist could beam off somewhere else so fast, I guess you're exploiting Time Cracks too"

"Your creator designed you well." Grodd said complimentarily. "A superior being like you could rule over this world along with us".

"Tempting, but I'll pass", said Stitch with a grin. "Your world sounds way too orderly for someone like me. Now, are you going to skip straight to the interrogation? I have a feeling there's a reason you're telling me as much of your plans as you are."

"Finally." Demona said, angrily slamming a hand to the transparent cage. A silvery mist drifted from Stitch's head into her hand before a crystal-like sphere formed around it.

A door opened, and a shadow slinked into the room. Wide searching eyes, and rasping breath accompanied the small figure, as he crawled in. One hand over the other, both perfect for wringing necks. The most dangerous being in the room had arrived.

Demona handed the sphere to Gollum. "Look through these memories", she instructed. "You'll find your Precious there..."

Faster than a blink, disproportionately large fingers wrapped around the crystal. With a slow gurgling laugh, that soon escalated into a cackle Gollum sped out of the room. And heaven help whoever stood in his way.

"Pity you wouldn't help us of your own accord." Said Demona as she and Grodd made their way to the exit. "You could have been a useful ally. Think about that."

"You know, after what Teridax had me doing, it'd be nothing new." Stitch drawled with disgust, as the door closed.

Lotso and Naraku entered the facility to find Wesker studying something under a microscope.

"Did you find anything?" He asked, not looking up from the microscope.

"The Key to the Past." Stated Naraku. Wesker looked up at this. "An ape of some kind has taken it. Zarbon and Carnage are in pursuit."

"Excellent." Wesker said with a charming smile. "Then we shall move forward our plans to invade his personal planet Earth."

The sound of helicopter rotors faded into earshot as a metallic figure descended, something like a flying scorpion.

"Right on schedule." Wesker said. "Did you complete your objective?"

"The signal is being brodcast over many alternate versions of your planet." Explained Obsidian. "Though many of the Cybermen have developed a signal blocker against the virus."

"It was to be expected." Said Wesker. "Cybermen are persistent and their methods allow for vastly superior numbers."

"It seems we have our foot soldiers." Said Naraku. "But if you plan on fighting the ape's forces with an army of mere drones..."

"I have no such intention demon, I assure you." Said Wesker. "Follow me."

Naraku, Obsidian and Lotso followed as Wesker lead them further into the lab.

"Put those on." Instructed Wesker, gesturing to a table where odd-looking headsets of many different sizes sat. Lotso, Krueger, Naraku and Obsidian obliged and Wesker led them into a vast empty chamber.

The end of the chamber was dominated by five gigantic tubes, covered by opaque protective screens that hid their contents from view.

"I have recently been experimenting with different combinations of DNA from immensely powerful organisms." Explained Wesker. "Zarbon was able to procure me a genetic sample from an old acquaintance of his by the name of Frieza. SpaceGodzilla and Muu were used as well, along with our esteemed colleague The Master – at his own insistence, no less – and a few genetic samples stolen from Cobra and their new allies."

He gestured grandly at the laboratory. "The results were far greater than I had anticipated. Five successful DNA fusions were created."

"How soon can we deploy 'em?" Lotso asked, entranced by the display.

Wesker shook his head, sadly. "Until a suitable measure can be implemented to control them, they remain unusable. Moreover, their power is far greater than anticipated. Some radioactive agent in SpaceGodzilla's DNA, for example, allows it to merge easily with other sources, draw out its strengths and amplify them."

"How powerful are these... creatures?" Asked Naraku, looking intently at the five colossal cylinders.

"If unleashed on the surface of an unfamiliar planet, any one of these beings could wipe out all life in minutes." Stated Wesker matter-of-factly, as some of the others took a shocked step backwards. "At a low estimate".

"Then what's stoppin'm from killin' us now?" asked Lotso.

"Inside the tubes, all five subjects are restrained with electromagnetic restraints and kept suspended in a constant supply of tranquillizing chemicals. The tubes themselves are actually designed to mimic the indestructibility of the skins of the creatures residing in the tubes. They are further concealed by meter-thick lead shields, protecting us from both their radioactivity and their greater psychic capabilities. Furthermore, the headset you are wearing prevents their IPPF from mentally destroying you."

"IPPF?" Questioned Obsidian.

"Indirect Psychic Projection Field." Explained Wesker.

"Wait, why'd you need all this protection if they're all asleep?" asked Lotso. "And why ain't you wearin' an anti-psychic headset?"

"Even in a state of sleep, the subconscious power of these subjects is enough to level cities." Wesker explained haughtily. "I can choose not to wear a headset because I have spent enough time around these creatures to adapt to the IPPF. An untrained mind would become a quivering wreck at best in mere seconds".

"Why are you showing us these creatures?" Asked Obsidian. He was afraid he already knew the answer. Wesker was giving them a warning about exactly who was in charge of their operation.

Wesker didn't answer. Instead he led them to six much smaller canisters, each large enough to contain an adult human or two. They looked to have once been transparent, but the dust coating its surface prevented any view inside.

"Lotso, when we receive a signal back from Carnage and Zarbon leading to the doorway to this ape's world, I want you to enter and start an uprising against him." Instructed Wesker. "Take Obsidian, Muu or Krueger with you for protection if you must, but most importantly take these six canisters with you."

"Why? What's in those things..." Asked Lotso, wiping away the dust covering the surface of one of the canisters. When he saw what was inside, he almost gasped.

"A new kind of bio-weapon." Said Wesker, with the pride of a father looking at his newborn.

Lotso looked into the canister at the face of Sheriff Woody.

_**I'll be busy a lot for the next while, so updates may be a little more scarce. I have near-complete new chapters for **_**Let the Game Begin**_**, **_**Psychic Jinjuuriki: Into the Abyss**_** and even **_**Marvel vs Jump**_** already written, so they could be out soon, and the newly-rebooted Heroes of Darkness may be updated due to its collaborative nature, but beyond that, updates may be on hold for some time, perhaps even until Christmas. **_

_**On another note, I will also be writing short stories at some stage explaining the origins of some of the groups in Instruments (probably no longer than five chapters each). You can look forward to those when they come out. One might ask why I'm planning additional projects whilst already busy with my existing stories, but I felt this would be the best way to introduce both the groups and the story as a whole to new readers.**_


	44. Old Enemies (part 1)

_**This chapter and the next one were originally one chapter, but I split it during the beta-reading step for more frequent updates. Anyway, here it is!**_

"Well well well, look what we have here"

Stitch turned to the door to see a familiar red symbiote. "I still haven't paid you back for that little barbeque we had back in London." Said Carnage as he walked over and wrenched the transparent cube from its base.

"Try all you like, you're not going to break this cube thing." Stitch sighed as Carnage dragged the cube along to a window. "I've been trying all day".

"Who said anything bout breaking it?" said Carnage. "I only want to break you..."

And with those words he hurled the cube through the window, the transparent prison plummeting to the ground

"Stitch!" shouted Peter as he, Buzz, Beast Boy and Kon entered the room.

Peter flew towards the shattered window. Carnage tried to tear at him with his claws as he passed but recoiled in pain as Buzz seared the offending arm off with his laser. Peter escaped the vehicle and dived after the cube.

Carnage snarled, then shrugged. "I can go after him later." He said, rounding on the other two. "Might as well slaughter his friends while I'm here... Hey, where'd the other two go? The mouse and the kid with the shiny hair?"

"They're busy dealing with some other problems..."

* * *

><p>Mickey shielded himself as Demona unleashed a barrage of electrical spheres from the staff she was carrying - a long, golden construct with, the egg-shaped head glowing purple.<p>

While a skilled spellcaster in her own right, Demona had soon realized that her magical abilities were far outclassed by Mickey's. Fortunately for her, she had augmented her magical powers with a variety of artifacts - foremost of which was this staff, stolen from a tyrannical Rhynoc sorceress before her downfall at the hands of a young dragon.

Taking his opportunity, Mickey cast a ball of blue fire from his hands, but Demona easily side-stepped the blast. Leaping toward the diminutive wizard, she swung at him with the staff, the melee attack catching Mickey off guard and throwing him across the room. Before Mickey could cast another spell, Demona had dropped the staff and drawn a large laser rifle, firing a blast at Mickey who barely managed to raise a barrier in time. Demona flipped the staff back into her hands and fired another volley of electrical orbs.

She knows I can't shield myself against magic and mundane attacks at the same time, Mickey realized as he leaped to the side to dodge the blue energy spheres. So she's quickly swapping between magic and technology to keep me from raising my defences...

* * *

><p>"I had heard the mouse was with you." Baldor said. He gave Rock Lee a disappointed look. "He was a good opponent. Why don't you go get him for me so I don't get bored?"<p>

"He is busy fighting against your allies." Rock Lee said. "Do not concern yourself with him. I will keep you entertained well enough."

Baldor noticed the red headband that Lee was wearing as a belt. "That symbol... You're one of those ninjas from the "Elemental nations", aren't you?" he remarked. "I hear they can create fire and illusions, create copies of themselves and summon powerful beasts. Perhaps you'll be worth my time after all..."

"That is true." Lee nodded. "Many of the ninja from my village can use powerful Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. However..."

Baldor swung his huge flail toward the young ninja, who dodged it with ease, jumping over the Orichalcum ball. The rockets attached activated, propelling it up toward Lee at high speed, and Lee, unable to move himself once in the air, was hit and sent flying.

As he crashed to the ground, Baldor turned to leave, but Lee was back on his feet sooner than expected.

"Your weapon is stronger and faster than I had expected." Said Lee, kneeling to adjust something on his legs. "I will not hold back in this battle!"

As he got back up, he dashed towards Baldor at unbelievable speed. Baldor swung his flail back towards him, but Lee kicked it aside, the sphere embedding itself into one of the inner walls of the ship. Baldor was shocked to see something repel his attack, least of all the human body, but quickly noticed Lee had not come out unscathed either - the impact with the nigh-unbreakable Orichalcum had clearly broken Lee's leg.

Undetered, Lee leaped forward with his uninjured leg, landing low. Swinging himself up from one hand, he delivered a powerful kick to the former Chronos Number that knocked him out cold.

* * *

><p>Lotso was not enjoying his trek through the jungle.<p>

Having found the entrance to Grodd's earth it had been a simple matter of consulting the Cyberman maps to find the earliest possible route and arrive a few weeks in advance of Grodd's ship. That wasn't the problem. What was more worrying were the sounds emanating from the jungle around him. The sounds were... hungry. But unnervingly, there didn't seem to be a single piece of fauna in this place...

And that was without counting his current travelling companions.

Wandering along behind him were Wesker's six test pieces. For the most part, it looked as though Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan, Deadpool, Po and Mickey were following after him.

Only upon closer inspection would you discover they were all walking corpses.

Wesker had explained once how these alternate versions of their enemies were wired up with some fancy machinery and some kind of "bio-paradox engine", whatever that was, but it wasn't really Lotso's field of understanding. They seemed quiet and obedient, apart from the unearthly rattling sound they made sometimes without warning and the murderous glint in their otherwise dead, empty eyes.

He remembered his conversation with Wesker regarding these creations...

"I don't get it." Said Lotso. "If it was this easy for you to round up these guys' bodies from different timelines, why can't we take care of the other versions the same way?"

"We could utilize most of the heroes." Wesker admitted. "However, the ones we encountered in London are immune to the technique. Their encounter with the Instruments has made them... unique."

"Unique?" Lotso was a simple bear, but he didn't get to be the top of the food chain without the power of knowledge. "How'd you mean?"

"Throughout all records of the Instruments of Time, one unusual factor appears consistent - their non-degeneracy." Explained Wesker. "There only exists one version of each of the Instruments, regardless of the collapse of time and the infinite web of possibility. Perhaps this unusual trait of the Instruments' chronology has some integral role in their ability to create a stable timeline. In any case, it seems to grant some level of timeline stability to all who come into contact with the Instruments, as well as somehow drawing these subjects to areas connected to such Instruments. Some of our enemies from London have reportedly managed to find their way back into our way, despite the phenomenally low probability of those exact temporal incarnations of them occurring in an infinitely expanding non-linear universe such as this one. If Gorilla Grodd's reported statements are as they sound, these beings had encounters some time before with at least two other Instruments."

"So what you're saying is that everyone who makes contact with the Instruments is a special instance, free from the collapse of time." The Obsidian summarized. "And that everywhere the Instruments go is similarly affected?"

"At least in so far as branching timelines are concerned. Everything connected to the Instruments of Time is drawn back to them eventually, in one way or another..."

_**Don't forget to vote on the story focus poll. I literally consider the top-voted series first when I have time to write (unless I'm especially stuck for the top-voted story at the time, it WILL be the next story written for) and I delete all votes for a series when I post a chapter for one, so even if you've voted, go back and vote again for more of your favourites among my stories.**_


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